Hatred to Love
by heartillyangel
Summary: He hates her. She loathes him. Secretly she loves him and so does he. When the tides of fate turn and they're apart, will their love last? Misused words, mixed emotions and feelings, jealousy, lies, deceit, betrayal...hatred [SquallRinoa]
1. Rumors

**Hatred to Love **

**A/N: **I know, I know. I start many fanfictions and never bother to actually finish them off. This time for this story, I promise that I'll finish this, cos' I have a pretty good plot for it and its going to be a great fic! (At least I hope it is going to be!). Oh yeah, this is a high school story!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own FF VIII! It belongs to Squaresoft! (Lucky them!)

**Chapter 1 – Rumors **

Rinoa Heartilly hated him. She really did. He was one of the popular ones and he mainly dated slutty girls. Most of the girls in her year would kill to go out with him (or any of his friends), so to impress him, they wore slutty revealing outfits, made out with their friends' boyfriends and were snobbish to other people. None of this ever worked on Squall Leonhart or any of his friends.

Rinoa sighed. Her alarm clock just rang. It was 7:20 am and she had to get changed into her school uniform, brush her teeth, wash her face and eat breakfast by 7:40 am. At that time, she had to meet her two best friends Selphie and Quistis at the corner so they could walk to school.

"Damn it, where'd I leave my uniform?" Rinoa mumbled to herself.

It was a new school year as well and in a couple of months she'd turn 16 years old.

Rinoa continued to rummage through her wardrobe throwing her clothes everywhere until she found her uniform hidden behind all her other clothes. The uniform at Balamb High was really nice, for girls it was a plain white blouse with a navy blue skirt with short socks and for boys a long sleeved white shirt with navy blue trousers. Although most of the boys preferred to roll their long sleeves up.

She pulled on her skirt, buttoned up her blouse and quickly put on her socks. Then Rinoa ran to the bathroom to wash her face. Luckily for her, her bedroom also had a bathroom. She quickly splashed some water on her lily white face. The water felt so cool against her skin. Last night, it was really hot in Balamb.

She then walked down the stairs and waltzed into the kitchen. Her father, General Caraway was probably at work right now (he lived in Deling City while Rinoa lived in Balamb with her mother) and her mother Julia Heartilly (who is still alive!) might still be sleeping.

Rinoa was humming her favourite song 'Eyes on Me' written and sung by her mother. It was a beautiful song and Rinoa kept on humming it while she was making herself breakfast. When she was finished cooking it, she placed her bacon and eggs into a plate and got out a cup of orange juice. She ate in the kitchen. Her house did have a dining room, but Rinoa was too bothered to eat breakfast there.

_I wonder if I'll have any classes with my friends this year? _Rinoa thought.

After she was done eating, she quickly ran upstairs to brush her teeth again and fix up her hair. Her hair fell into place, after she combed it. The two brown streaks in her raven black hair made her chocolate brown eyes stand out more.

_Oh crap, it's almost 7:40 and I'm standing in front of the mirror admiring myself! I got to run! _

Rinoa ran out the door and raced up to the corner where Quistis, Selphie and herself normally met in the morning. She ran so quickly that she had to dodge many kids walking to school.

"Sorry! I'm late!" She called out to the kids.

Quistis and Selphie were already at the corner and were patiently waiting for Rinoa to come so they could walk to Balamb High together. Actually, Quistis was the one waiting patiently.

"Rinny's late on the first day _again_!" Selphie whined.

Quistis kept on looking at her watch. She hated listening to Selphie's winching because it was painfully annoying.

"Quistis? Did you even _hear _me?" Selphie snapped. Selphie hated to be ignored.

Quistis finally looked up from her watch. Rinoa probably got a chauffer to drive her to school, after all her mother was a famous piano player/singer/songwriter and her father was the president of Deling City so they both made a lot of money.

"Let's walk to school without Rinoa instead," Quistis suggested.

Selphie was excited. She definitely wanted to see Irvine Kinneas again. Over the school break, she had developed a crush on him, but she probably would never have a chance with him since he was part of the popular crowd at school and the popular guys mainly liked the popular girls.

They started to walk until Quistis heard someone running. Both Quistis and Selphie turned to see who it was. Rinoa Heartilly was running as if she was going to win a million dollars if she reached the finish line. When Rinoa finally caught up to them, she was panting and very red in the face. Running like that on a summer morning would definitely tire you out.

"Why are you so late Rinoa?" Selphie asked as all three of them began walking.

"I was daydreaming," Rinoa replied glumly.

Quistis smiled. "If you tell that to Xu, she'd publish it in our school newspaper's gossip column!" Quistis said teasingly.

They continued to talk about their holidays, boys and who'd they get this year for what classes.

"Look! School!" Selphie said happily.

Rinoa and Quistis weren't that excited to be back at school, they definitely preferred the holidays and sleeping in.

The three of them had to stop off at their lockers to get their books once they got inside the school building. Usually they met the sluts on their way there. Unfortunately that day, they did.

"Who let the freaks out?" Mandy, Squall's girlfriend said smirking. Her posse then started to laugh in these high pitched voices which made them sound like dead birds.

"Well, who let the sluts out?" Selphie snapped back.

They eventually managed to walk past them to their lockers, but the looks on their faces were venomous and ready to kill.

All of their lockers were near to each other's so it was easy to get their stuff out and walk to classes.

"I need to go to the toilet," Rinoa said softly.

"Is it your time of month already?" Selphie said loudly.

"Selphie!" Quistis said threateningly.

Rinoa shook her head. Quistis gave her a small smile, which meant go on. Rinoa ran down the corridors and past some classrooms and finally found the exit. She then ran inside the toilets and hid there. She wasn't exactly snooping, but on the last edition of the school newspaper in the gossip column it said that Squall and Mandy broke up. The girls' toilets were a great place to get the latest gossip and the stuff you heard there was normally true. But Rinoa had to listen to them to see if it was really true. Squall Leonhart had dumped another girl! Who's next?

Normally Mandy's posse stayed in the toilets in the morning, between classes and lunchtimes to put on make up. To tell you the truth, once they came out they looked like pandas that didn't sleep much.

After a few moments, Rinoa heard footsteps coming towards her and people talking. They opened the door and walked in.

"Mandy, dry your tears sweetie," A girl said.

Mandy sounded like she sobbing hysterically. She also sounded like a wailing duck.

"What's wrong Mandy dear? Why'd you burst into tears and run away when you saw Squall?" Another girl asked.

Mandy was still sobbing until she stopped and said, "We broke up,"

"No!" The girls said together.

"You were a cute couple!" One of the girls said.

"He was going to ask you to the formal!" Another said.

"I know why they broke up! Mandy was cheating on Squall with Paul!" One said proudly.

"I now know why they call you the big mouth Erika," Mandy snapped angrily.

Rinoa wanted to hear more, but the bell for school to start was going and they had to get their first semester timetable in homeroom.

Finally they left the toilets and Rinoa had to sneak out of the toilets and run to homeroom.

_Great, more running, this will help me fit into a bikini, _Rinoa thought.

She didn't exactly look where she was running because she ran into someone. She didn't bother looking up to see who it was. Rinoa could easily tell who it was by looking at his necklace. It was a chain necklace with a lion on it. Squall called it Griever.

Squall looked down to the girl that was standing really close to him. That girl was Rinoa Heartilly. He hated her so much. She annoyed him in lessons and she was in love with the school's bad boy Seifer Almasy. He got that juicy little detail from the school newspaper's gossip column and he never forgot to remind Rinoa that she liked him. He sent her notes all the time that said Rinoa loves Seifer.

"Sorry," Rinoa said without looking up.

Squall quickly brushed past her and walked right to his seat in homeroom near his friends, Zell and Irvine. They were meant to receive their first semester timetables that morning, but as usual their homeroom teacher was late.

Rinoa found her seat near Selphie and Quistis and she sat down.

"Find any interesting gossip Rinny?" Selphie asked curiously.

"Yeah. It's official. Mandy and Squall broke up," Rinoa said.

Quistis snorted. Rinoa knew that she would, because Quistis hated discussing other people's love life.

Hey, this is only the beginning of a new year.

**A/N: **Tell me (by your reviews) if the story was good or not, or it was too long or short! Thanks, you reviewers rock!

Next chapter: He's my science partner!?


	2. He's my science partner?

**Hatred to Love**

**A/N: **Thanks for all your reviews! Even if I didn't get them, I would've continued with this story anyway Oh yeah, if you're wondering how I do get inspiration for my stories, they're actually based on some of my real life events! As always read this chap and review! Thanks!

**Chapter 2 – He's my science partner!? **

"I really can't believe that you broke it off with Mandy," Irvine said raising one of his eyebrows.

Squall shrugged. Why do people keep on bugging him about Mandy? He broke up with her because she was cheating on him. Mandy used to be a sweet angelic person, until she made friends with the popular crowd. She then turned slutty and was nice only to the popular guys and girls. Then she found out that two boyfriends were way better than one. So she cheated on Squall with Paul. That was when Squall had it with her manipulative behavior and broke up with her.

"Look, I'm tired of talking about Mandy, ok? I'll just take a walk, since the homeroom teacher is going to be late as always," Squall said coldly and then walked off.

Irvine looked at Zell. They were both thinking the same thing. Before Squall met Mandy, he was an anti-social person. He was cold-hearted, even though his parents, Raine and Laguna and his half-sister Ellone were still alive. They knew that he was cold-hearted because he lost his twin sister two years ago and ever since that tragic event, he was afraid of opening up to people. But when he met Mandy, she opened up his heart and loved him. And he loved her. Now, thanks to Mandy, he was going to be anti-social once _again. _

Squall felt people staring at his back when he left the room. He didn't really care that girls were going to be lining up at his locker and asking for dates now that he was single again. He really didn't care about anything right now. All he wanted was his sister back. But that could never ever happen. She was dead.

_Oh big sister, why'd you have to leave me? _Squall thought bitterly.

"Mandy? Who're you dating now?" Erika asked with a hint of curiosity.

Mandy turned away from her conversation with one of the popular guys and gave Erika the evil eye. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to win back Squall's heart! And in a week or two, he'll practically be proposing to me,"

Erika couldn't help but laugh noisily and announce loudly, "As if! Squall's over you!" That caused the rest of the students in the class to turn around and stare.

"Quistis?" Selphie said.

"What _now _Selphie?" Quistis said with a tone of annoyance.

"Do I need glasses like you, or is Irvine and Zell telling us to sit near them?" Selphie said in a daze.

Rinoa turned around and saw Irvine and Zell saying "Come over here!"

"Please?" Selphie begged.

Quistis saw that some people in the class were now staring at them, rather than at Erika. It was embarrassing since Selphie was on her knees and looked like she was about to burst into tears if Quistis said no to her.

Quistis scowled and muttered, "Whatever, let's go,"

Rinoa laughed softly and they all stood up and walked over to where Zell and Irvine were sitting.

"Great they came! Irvine ask her already!" Zell said playfully.

Irvine kept on shooting Selphie nervous looks. What was going on?

"Uh….Selphie? I was wondering if we could…you know…go out sometime…if you want…" Irvine mumbled while he was blushing.

Quistis and Rinoa had no clue what Irvine was going on about, but Selphie looked like she had just won a million gil.

"Yes! I'd love to!" Selphie squealed and ran over to Irvine and hugged him.

"Rinoa, Quistis, sit down," Zell said.

"So, Zell, did Squall ever date anyone else before Mandy?" Rinoa asked casually and Quistis nudged her and gave her a look which meant "Don't be so nosy!"

Zell however, didn't seem to mind that Rinoa had asked that question. "Well, let's just say that Mandy was his first and only girlfriend,"

"So does that mean none of you dated those sluts?" Rinoa asked eagerly.

"Look Rinoa, even if the popular guys do have a reputation for dating sluts, I never did. Irvine dated some of them once in a while and Squall only dated Mandy even though many other girls in the school begged him for dates," Zell replied.

Then they heard a loud bang. Everyone looked up to see who it was and the popular girls screamed in high-pitched voices. It was Xu. Smartest girl in the whole grade and the author of the school's gossip column in the school newspaper. She was at the door holding stacks of paper and looked exhausted. She walked in and placed them on the teacher's desk.

"Finally!" Someone called out.

"What took so long?" Another called.

Xu blushed as she walked over to her group of friends.

"All right students! I know that you're meant to be in first period right now, but sorry that I'm late. I was caught up in a staff meeting," Their homeroom teacher said.

He then called the roll and paused at Squall's name. "Where's Mr. Leonhart?"

"Right here," A cold voice said.

"Nice to have you back Mr. Leonhart, now take a seat," He said in the same tone of coldness Squall used and then continued to mark the roll.

Squall sat down next to Rinoa and stared out the window.

Rinoa never knew this before about Squall (since she never really got a good look at him), but he looked hot. Could this really be the guy that she hated so much? So she kept glancing at him every now and then, and sometimes he caught her staring at him. Then Xu came over and gave her a timetable. Rinoa quickly studied her timetable and it stated that she'd be having science right now.

"What are you having first period?" Quistis asked.

"Science," Rinoa replied.

"Me too and same with Irvine and uh, Squall," Selphie said.

"Darn it, I have PE with Zell," Quistis moaned.

Most of the students had already left homeroom so they could quickly get to first period on time. Quistis, Selphie, Rinoa, Squall, Zell and Irvine started to make their way out of the classroom until someone blocked their way.

"Can't we just talk please Squall?" pleaded Mandy.

"……."

Mandy looked into Squall's ice blue eyes. She couldn't give up now.

"Mandy, let us get to first period already," Zell said calmly.

Mandy looked at Zell helplessly and walked away with her clique.

Finally, they were out of the classroom and on their way to first period.

"So Rinoa, who's your teacher for science?" Quistis asked.

Rinoa looked at her timetable where it said the teacher's name. "Mrs. Kramer. Is she the principal's wife or something?"

"Yeah she is, haven't seen her yet though but I heard some guys say she's pretty hot looking for a science teacher. And very tough," Irvine said.

Rinoa looked confused.

"That's true Rinoa, most science teachers you read about in books or see in movies are old people, but Mrs. Kramer is really young. Probably around 28 or 29 years old," Zell added.

"See you later Rin and Selph," Quistis called.

"Quistis! Wait up! I have PE with you as well!" Zell called out running after Quistis.

Rinoa looked over at Squall. He was walking with them, but it was almost as if he wasn't there.

"Squall? What do you have next period?" Rinoa asked.

Squall looked at Rinoa with surprise. He definitely thought that she hated him, because of all the notes he sent to her last year.

"I have English next Rinoa," Squall replied softly.

Rinoa was also shocked that he replied to her. She thought that he hated her for being annoying to him.

"Rin, why are you blushing?" Selphie asked.

"Selphie, I'm not blushing," Rinoa replied.

"Hey ladies, we're here already," Irvine said.

The four of them quickly walked into the science lab and sat down.

"You four are late," Mrs. Kramer said.

"We're really sorry Mrs. Kramer, but we got lost," Selphie said.

"A likely tale," Mrs. Kramer said smirking.

"Now as I was just telling the class, I was about to tell you your science lab partners. You can't switch partners unless you have a good reason why you should switch. Now your partners will be your partners for everything. Science lab experiments, assignments, the whole lot. When I tell you your partners, please go sit next to them. And in addition to me telling you your partners, I will also be giving you an assignment, which I'll talk about later on," Mrs. Kramer explained.

"Hey, Rinoa, pass this to Squall, ok?" Leanna, one of Mandy's friends whispered and handed Rinoa the note.

Rinoa took the note and dropped it in front of Squall. Squall picked it up and quickly read it. When he was done he looked over at Mandy and gave her a disgusted look.

"Ok now, I'll tell you who your science partners are," Mrs. Kramer said.

"Maybe if I'm really lucky, Squall will be my partner, so he'll have to talk to me then," Mandy whispered to Leanna.

Mrs. Kramer flipped through her roll book until she found the page where she wrote down who was partners with who.

She called out names until there were only a couple of students left without partners.

"Miss. Tilmitt you will be partners with…Mr. Kinneas,"

"Miss. Heartilly, your partner is Mr. Leonhart,"

Mandy immediately shot out of her seat. "What the hell!?" She cried out.

"Miss. Portman, take your seat at once unless you want detention for disrupting my class!" Mrs. Kramer said coldly.

Mandy closed her mouth and before she sat down she shot Rinoa a venomous look.

"Just ignore her Rinoa," Squall said quietly.

Selphie stuck her tongue out at Mandy.

Mrs. Kramer then went on to explain about their assignment. It was due in two weeks and was to be a report on chemical reactions and chemical equations and was to be done with your partner.

"Rinoa, we can start on the assignment after school at my house if you want to. I can wait for you," Squall said distractedly.

"Sure Squall," Rinoa said kindly.

Mrs. Kramer then went on to explain the work on their report, but Rinoa was too busy thinking about something else. Something named Squall Leonhart…


	3. Discovering the real Squall

**Hatred to Love **

**A/N: **Since I went on holidays for around a month and I didn't update for a while, I decided that I'd post up this chapter a week early. I know that I haven't updated on other my other fics, but I know where this story's going, and I want to finish it before I don't know what else to write about and of course before the school holidays end! Thanks for all your reviews! And if Squall seems a little different than what you're used to, remember he hasn't lost his parents or Ellone, only his twin sister! Quistis is popular except that she got 'demoted' when she started hanging out with Selphie and Rinoa.

**Chapter 3 – Discovering the real Squall**

The whole school day was like a blur to Rinoa. She could hardly remember a single thing. Except for the fact that Squall was in every one of her classes. Now that was really creepy! And the teachers also gave their students an awful lot of homework for the first day.

The last class that Rinoa had that day was music and fortunately Selphie, Quistis, Zell and Irvine were in that class. Unfortunately, Squall and Mandy were too.

Rinoa was in a deep conversation with Selphie until she tripped over a rubbish bin. Luckily she didn't fall inside the bin, but Squall was the one who helped her up and Rinoa didn't realise that she was still holding onto his hand.

"Keep your hands off _my _boyfriend Rinoa," Mandy said sneeringly.

"The last time I checked, you were dumped by him already," Selphie snapped.

Rinoa didn't have a clue what Mandy was talking about. Until she saw that her hand was in someone else's hand. Rinoa looked up and saw Squall looking in the other direction. She quickly slipped her hand out of his and she faced the other direction blushing really hard and thinking, _Oh my god! I can't believe that I held his hand! There's something really wrong with me today! _

"All right class, I know all of you have a lot of homework from your other classes and I don't want you to hate me for giving you more, so there's no homework for today," Ms. Kerry their music teacher said.

"Looks like Squall has a liking for you Rin," Zell whispered to Rinoa.

"He does _not_!" Rinoa whispered back quickly.

"Squall, man is there anyway to get Mandy off your back?" Irvine asked.

Squall looked at him. "How the hell should I know? I dumped her and now she wants me back, it's her problem, not mine,"

Irvine looked a bit hurt at the way Squall answered him but quickly got over it.

"There goes the bell kids, see you on Wednesday, second period!" Ms. Kerry called out.

Quistis, Selphie, Zell and Irvine were already on their way out the door so they could all walk home together. Selphie had discovered that Irvine and Zell lived really close to them, so she invited them to walk to and from school with them.

"Hey Rin, you walking with us?" Zell called out.

Rinoa made her way to them and said, "I can't today; I have to start on my science assignment with Squall and we're also studying together,"

All eyes were on Squall now. Squall realised that all eyes were on him and he said, "It's just Rinoa and me working together at my house. It's normal, for Hyne's sake! Lots of other people study at other people's houses!"

"Rightttttt….you're going to _study_," Quistis said a smile forming on her lips.

"Shut up Quistis," Rinoa said pulling Squall out the door with her.

"I wonder if something's going on with them?" Selphie whispered.

Zell smiled. _Maybe Rinoa can change him back to normal again…_

"So, Zell, if you said that you don't date sluts, who would you date then?" Selphie said playfully.

Zell turned scarlet. "I'm…I'm just not interested in dating anyone right now,"

Irvine chuckled lightly. "As if Zell! You're interested in that library girl, Kate. That's why you've been spending a lot of time in the library these days!"

"Is that true Zell?" Quistis asked smiling.

Zell blushed even harder. "I'm going to kill you Irvine Kinneas!"

"Zell, you do realise that you've just told us that you do like her! If you didn't like Kate then you wouldn't have said that you wanted to kill Irvine. You would've just denied it," Quistis said.

"So somebody _is _in love with somebody," Selphie said in a singsong voice.

"I'm not in love with her!" Zell said loudly.

"As if!!" Quistis, Irvine and Selphie replied laughing.

"So, Squall are we walking to your house or what?" Rinoa asked.

Squall looked at her as if she was crazy. "I live in Esthar and that's pretty far to walk Rinoa. We're getting picked up by a limousine,"

Now it was Rinoa's turn to look at Squall as if he was crazy. Limousine? Rinoa thought he wasn't that rich, but then again, his father probably made a lot of money being the president of Esthar.

Rinoa sat down on one of the school benches.

"Is your chauffer going to take long Squall?" Rinoa asked.

Squall kept on looking out at the road and acted like Rinoa didn't say anything.

"Fine, don't answer me, you ungrateful excuse for a human being," Squall heard her mumble.

Squall glanced at her for a while. In some ways, she was appealing to him. The way she sat on the bench with a frustrated look on her pretty face. But even if he did eventually start to date her, she'd probably cheat on him, just like Mandy did. He didn't want to be hurt again.

_I'll admit it! She has a pretty face but her bubbly personality drives me insane! I don't even want to think about this. Why the hell am I thinking about this anyway? It's not like I like her or something. _Squall thought.

"What do you want Squall?" Rinoa asked when she saw Squall staring at her.

"The limo's here," Squall said.

Rinoa stood up and walked over to the limousine and hopped inside.

"Aren't you coming in?" She called to Squall.

Squall sighed and walked to the limousine and sat inside and then quickly shut the door. He wanted to finish the assignment today, so that she wouldn't be coming home with him again.

Rinoa and Squall both thought that no one had seen them get inside the limousine together, but unfortunately someone did. Erika, the school's biggest flirt and gossiper.

"Oh my god! Now Squall and Rinoa's dating?! I have to tell Mandy right away!" She said to herself and whipped out her little pink mobile phone.

Erika started pacing around the school grounds waiting for Mandy to answer her mobile phone. _Come on Mandy, pick up already! This juicy little detail will be vital to you! You better be grateful that I have drama club meeting on Monday afternoons! Cos' if I didn't, you wouldn't have found out that Squall's got a new girlfriend already! What could you be doing now? I thought you told me that your phone was like your best friend and you keep it at your side all the time! _

Mandy was looking through her drawers for photos of Squall. She swore that they were in one of her drawers because that's where she left most of her photo albums. When they were dating, they took heaps of photos together. Squall had hated taking photos. His reason? Camera-shy. But he did eventually give in to Mandy's pleading. Mandy wanted to find them so she could remember her Squall and all the fun times they had together. She was going to use them to make Squall remember that so he'll feel guilty about it and they'll eventually begin to date again. But, could that really happen?

_BBBBrrrrriiiiiiinnnnnnnggggggggg……………_

"What the hell does someone want now?! I'm busy!" Mandy asked as she turned away from her drawers and quickly grabbed her mobile phone which was lying on her "princess" bed.

"Hello?!" Mandy shouted into the phone.

"Woah! Mandy, if you keep on shouting like that, I'll go deaf and that means I won't be able to listen for any more juicy gossip!" A female voice said.

"Erika? Is that you? How'd you get my mobile number?" Mandy said with a hint of curiosity.

"Never mind that _now _Mandy, I have a piece of information that is going to be really important to you. It involves Squall and a certain raven haired girl…" Erika said.

Mandy walked over to her bulletin board and looked at a snapshot she had taken of Squall when he didn't know she was there. It was her favourite one of him, because you could see a close-up of his ice blue eyes and a lot of his handsome features.

"Keep talking Erika," Mandy said into her phone.

"Let's just say that I saw Squall and Rinoa riding in his limo together this afternoon…"

"You WHAT?!" Mandy shouted.

_How dare she? How dare she steal my man! I'll get her for this if it's the last thing I ever end up doing! You're going to pay big time for this Rinoa Heartilly…_

"This is your house?!" Rinoa said in shock.

"What's wrong with it?" Squall asked patiently.

Rinoa was too shocked to answer. She thought that kids with politicians as parents lived in the White House or something like that. But Squall's house, however, was a different story. It was like one of those dream houses, like the one Regina George lived in (Mean Girls).

"Do you have the keys?" Rinoa asked.

Squall looked at her. "Of course I do,"

He opened the door and let Rinoa inside first.

"Rinoa, my room's on the second floor, the first door on the right, go in there and make yourself at home," Squall said distractedly.

"Where will you be?" Rinoa asked not really wanting to know the answer.

Squall looked at her once again and simply said, "I need to take a shower," and after he said that he waltzed into one of his mansion's million rooms.

Rinoa looked around the house and walked to get a closer look at some framed photos on the wall. There were some family portraits, some individual ones and one that appealed to her the most. One of Squall which was probably taken around two or three years ago. He still looked attractive like he was now, but he was actually smiling for real in the photo. Not a fake smile, but a natural one. That also brought a smile to Rinoa's lips. Maybe there was a 'real' Squall after all.

_Yikes! If I hang around here any longer, Squall will practically be done showering all ready! I have to get to his room! _Rinoa thought.

Rinoa ran up one set of stairs and then ran up another. Then as Squall had told her, Rinoa opened the first door on the right.

She walked inside his room and looked around. Was this really Squall Leonhart's bedroom?

Rinoa thought that since Squall broke up with Mandy, his bedroom would be messy. But his room was incredibly neat and sophisticated.

All of his honor awards were framed and hung above his desk. His gunblade was placed near his wardrobe. Almost everything in this room didn't suit Squall's personality at all except for the gunblade and the honor awards. Maybe there really was a 'real' Squall.

Rinoa walked over to his desk because a photo had caught her eye. It was definitely an old photo, but what intrigued Rinoa the most was that the girl looked a lot like her. A younger looking Squall (probably 11 or 12 years old) had his arm around a girl that had raven black hair with two copper streaks.

_Flashback _

"_Squall, I don't want to talk to you anymore," Rinoa said with tears coming out of her eyes. _

_Twelve year old Squall ran after Rinoa. "Why not Rin?" _

_Rinoa turned around and looked at Squall, tears running down her face. _

"_You do realise that today was my twelfth birthday, don't you?" _

_Squall nodded and placed his hands on Rinoa's shoulders. _

"_You didn't even wish me happy birthday today and I saw you hanging out with Mandy. You said that you never really liked her and you forgot about my birthday so that you could hang with her?" Rinoa said angrily. _

_The rain poured down even harder. _

_Squall was silent for a while. _

_Then Squall did something that was unlike him. He leaned down to Rinoa and kissed her softly on the lips. _

"_Happy Birthday Rinoa," Squall whispered. _

_End Flashback. _

Rinoa blinked for a second. She'd been having that flashback for a while now and she didn't know whether it was real or just a dream. It seemed so real to her, but she didn't want it to be real. She had disliked Squall for a long time and she didn't want to start liking him now. Although she had to admit, he was hot looking.


	4. Rules of Attraction

**Hatred to Love **

**A/N: **Thanks for all your reviews and I hope that you enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it! This is probably the last chapter I'll write until I have more time, because unfortunately for me, school started again. And my teachers gave me more piles of homework. I'll update whenever I have the time. Enjoy! (If this chapter seemed boring, I'm really sorry. I planned out the next chapters already, and they're way more interesting and full of more drama and romance than this. This chapter is just here to explain some things and to fit in with the rest of the story) Also, sorry that it took me so long to update!

**Chapter 4 – Rules of Attraction **

"Irvy? Do you think that Rinoa likes Squall? Or the other way around?" asked Selphie.

Selphie, Zell and Irvine were hanging around at Quistis' house to do all their homework and in between doing all of that, they were discussing about Squall and Rinoa.

Irvine looked at Selphie and smiled. "I think that he does, because he was actually nice to her today otherwise normally, he would've given her the cold shoulder, like he does to all girls that come anywhere near him,"

Quistis sighed. "Did you people actually come over here to study with me or did you come over to discuss other people's love lives?"

"Join us or leave us now Quisty!" Selphie snapped.

Zell and Irvine chuckled at the shocked expression on Quistis' normally pretty face.

"Fine then! I'll join you guys! But don't expect me to help you with your homework Selph!" Quistis snapped back.

Selphie stuck out her tongue at Quistis.

"You know, I think that Rinoa really does like Squall," Zell said quietly.

Selphie and Quistis turned away from their argument and looked at Zell.

"What do you mean Zell? They don't like each other in _that _way, they can't, it won't happen," Irvine said.

"But Rinny's probably not telling us that she does. This is possibly the only day where they didn't argue with each other or call each other names. Remember last year? They always argued and were always at each other's throats! And those are pretty clear signs that they could be more than just friends, maybe they're already dating, but they're not telling us, " Zell said.

"So? Aren't they allowed to be nice to each other?" Selphie asked.

Everyone was quiet for a while. No one knew what to think. But the question really is what's going on with the both of them?

Rinoa didn't know what to believe. Was that flashback real or not? She couldn't really ask her mother, because her mother was on a promotional tour for her new album and wouldn't be back for a couple of months and her mother had told her that her father never really spent that much time with her when she was younger because he was always busy with work. Maybe that was the main reason why her parents got separated in the first place.

Now, even if she wanted to ask her father, she couldn't. He had recently got himself a new girlfriend named Amber. Rinoa loved her father dearly, but she still couldn't believe that her father would do this to her mother. They were separated but the divorce wasn't final yet. She hated his new girlfriend. There were times when she wished that her family were still together. But that wouldn't happen. She was still angry at him for hurting her mother's feelings.

Rinoa sat down on a chair clutching the framed photo of her and Squall. _Why do I even hate Squall anyway? He never did anything to harm me or hurt me in anyway. Wait. Yes he did. He and his other friends from the popular crowd sent me notes that say "Rinoa loves Seifer". Why do I despise him so much then? I think that I'm starting to like him, but I don't want to acknowledge it…Actually, I don't ever want to acknowledge it. Never! _

Rinoa looked at her watch. It was 4:30 pm. _My god! Squall takes half an hour to shower! Seriously, what do guys do in the shower? Their hair is short so they shouldn't take that long to shampoo and condition…I'm really, really bored and tired now. _

Rinoa's flashbacks had been keeping her awake at night and she couldn't fall asleep again. The flashbacks kept her thinking if they were real or just some pictures floating in her mind. She looked at Squall's bed and suddenly felt very sleepy. _I'm sure that Squall won't mind that I took a nap…_And Rinoa fell on the bed fast asleep with the photo of her and Squall when they were younger in her hands.

Squall walked up the stairs. He really wanted to get started on the assignment now, soon his older half-sister Ellone would be home from university and his parents, Raine and Laguna would be home later on. There would be so many questions if they all met Rinoa. Ellone and his father would probably tease him about Rinoa being his latest girlfriend.

He opened the door and walked inside. Squall couldn't see Rinoa anywhere. Was this meant to be a joke? Then he looked at his bed to see a sleeping figure. Lying right in front of him was Rinoa. She looked like a baby angel sleeping.

He walked closer to her and looked closely at what she was holding in her hand. It was the photo of him and her when they were both 12 years old. _How'd she find that? I wonder if she knows that it's her in the photo…_

Squall also had his shares of strange flashbacks as well. They just happened to come into his head whenever he saw Rinoa. He didn't know if they were real or not, but he knew that his family and Rinoa's family knew each other well and they spent a lot of time together years ago. But with Rinoa's parents' separating and his twin sister's tragic death, they didn't spend as much time together as they used to.

He smiled as Rinoa stirred a little. But she didn't wake up. So Squall pulled his blanket and placed it over her.

Squall then gathered all of his books and walked out the door and into his older half sister Ellone's bedroom to study.

He studied for around an hour and started to work on his and Rinoa's science project.

"What are you doing in here Squall?" A female voice asked.

Squall turned around and dropped his pen. Ellone had a shocked look on her face, probably because the last time he went into her room was about two years ago, before their sister's death.

"I was just about to leave, Sis," Squall mumbled.

Ellone placed all her textbooks on her bed. "It's ok Squall, you can stay in here,"

"Although, I just wonder, you do have your own study room, why are you studying in here?" Ellone asked with a smile forming on her lips.

Squall stood up from the seat. "Follow me,"

Ellone followed Squall back to his bedroom.

"There, lying on my bed, she's the reason why," Squall whispered.

"Really? Is that Rinoa Heartilly, Squall?" Ellone asked with a small smile.

"Yes, Sis. That is her," Squall said.

"Oh yeah, mum told me that dinner will be in half and hour. I'll go tell her right now that we have a guest tonight. Is she going to sleepover?" Ellone asked.

Squall was silent for a moment. "I don't know. She mentioned to me that her mother was on some promotional tour and her father was a politician that was too busy with his job to spend some time with her,"

Laguna Loire walked upstairs to his son Squall's room. _I haven't seen Julia in a long time; I wonder how she's doing? _

When he reached Squall's room, he was surprised to see Ellone and Squall standing near the door talking about something. The last time Laguna remembered, Squall was too busy shutting everyone out of his life after his twin sister died in a tragic car accident. But then, he met Mandy and everything had changed. What had happened after he dumped her?

"Dad!" Ellone squealed and hugged Laguna affectionately. Even if Ellone wasn't Laguna's biological daughter, he loved her and cared for her like one. Ellone was pretty fond of Laguna as well, because she never got to know her real father, as he left her and her mother Raine, when she was a young child.

"Hey there you two, your mother wants you both down for dinner in 30 minutes, ok? And who is that?" Laguna asked.

Ellone quickly whispered to Laguna and he smiled, "That's Rinoa? She's so different now. Maybe because we haven't seen her for about four years…"

Ellone and Laguna quickly left Squall's bedroom so Squall was alone in his room with Rinoa.

_Great. I'm left babysitting for Rinoa. There's something about her that makes her a lot different from Mandy. She's special in a way. _

_Rinoa's dream _

_I was running and running. I seemed to be going absolutely nowhere. _

_The sky was dark and gloomy with a lot of black clouds. It seemed pretty empty to me and all around me there was just plain fields of green grass with some flowers growing. Where am I? _

_I continued running hoping to find him. I looked and looked but I couldn't see him anywhere. _

_You promised me that you'd be there for me. So, where are you now? _

_You always told me that you'll be here. You'll be waiting here. You promised me that you'll always be waiting here for me, and if I came here, I'll find you. That was the promise that you made to me. Always and forever. _

_I stopped and I looked down at my necklace. I held tightly onto it as it was around my neck. _

_I looked up into the dark sky and stared at the floating black clouds. Is this what you wanted me to feel? Lonely and empty? Where are you when I need you the most? _

_End of Rinoa's dream. _

Rinoa woke up from her nap. She was sweating and breathing heavily. The dream that she just had had affected her in some way. She didn't like to be alone.

_What did that dream mean? _Rinoa thought.

Rinoa felt tears coming out from her eyes and sliding down her cheeks.

Squall looked over to Rinoa and saw that she had finally woken up. He also saw some tears falling out from her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. What was going on? He had seen her tossing and turning when she was sleeping, but really, what was the real reason?

He stood up from the chair that he was sitting on and walked over to his bed and sat down near Rinoa.

"Rinoa, what's wrong?" Squall asked.

Rinoa still crying looked up into Squall's beautiful electric blue eyes and quickly threw her arms around him in a tight embrace.

Squall didn't know what to do but he hugged her back anyway.

Rinoa dug her face even deeper into Squall's shoulder. She hadn't felt the warmth and comfort of a hug in a long time. Even though Rinoa knew that she was hugging the person that she hated the most, but she didn't really care right now. All she wanted was some comfort and maybe, only maybe, Squall could give her that right now.

But then, Squall didn't know why, but he tilted her face up to his and leaned down to kiss her tenderly. If Rinoa didn't want to be kissed by him, she would've pulled away, but she didn't.

Later on…

"This tastes really nice, Mrs. Loire!" Rinoa said cheerfully while eating pasta.

Raine beamed at Rinoa's compliment. _She seems to have forgotten that she used to call me Auntie Raine…_

"Rinoa, please call me Raine,"

Naturally, Squall and Rinoa were sitting next to each other at the dining table. Earlier Rinoa said to Squall, "Look, I know that both of us have hated each other for some time. But, I really don't want to admit this, but…Squall I have a crush on you! I know it seems awkward that we've hated each other for so long and now I'm falling for you…" Rinoa said blushing.

Squall merely nodded and hugged Rinoa. She had told him about all her pain, suffering and her parents' divorce. He wanted to understand her for some reason.

"Rinny, do you still attend Balamb High?" Ellone asked.

Rinoa looked over at Ellone and gave her a warm smile. "I still do,"

When they had all finished eating, Raine asked Rinoa, "Do you want to stay here for the night?"

Rinoa blushed immediately. "No, it's ok Raine; I'll go home now, because my mother probably is worrying about me…"

Raine said sympathetically, "Rinoa, I know that your mother is on her promotional tour and your father is busy with work,"

Rinoa blushed harder. She didn't even ask how Raine knew. "I don't want to impose on you or anything Raine, really, it's ok, I can manage,"

But Raine ushered Rinoa back inside the house and said, "I won't take no for an answer Rinoa, its ok, I like having company over,"

So Raine led Rinoa to a spare guest room which was right next door to Squall's bedroom.

"And Ellone will lend you some of her nightgowns to sleep in," Raine said before leaving the room.

Rinoa sighed. She wasn't really expecting this to happen.

Squall was walking past his parent's bedroom and accidentally overheard his parents talking about something.

"_She's changed so much and she doesn't remember me at all Laguna," _

"_Don't you remember Raine? After the accident, she forgot about almost everyone, but as days passed, she remembered some things. But remember how Squall and Rinoa were dating before the accident?" _

"_Yes, but then after she recovered, she went back to school and met Squall again. She then thought of him as an arrogant snob and hated him ever since then," _

"_But I think there's something going on with them again. At dinner they were sitting next to each other and were very polite to each other. I remember that Squall used to come home complaining about someone annoying him at school. I believe that it was Rinoa," _

Squall not wanting to eavesdrop any longer walked into the spare room next to his own. He thought that Rinoa had gone home already, but obviously he was wrong. Rinoa must be very sleepy today, because she was already sleeping on the spare bed.

He smiled at the sight of her. He had to admit, that he was falling for her hard as well. But he didn't want to admit this, just in case Rinoa turns out to be just like Mandy.

_There's something about you Rinoa that makes you shine from all the other girls. You're more special than Mandy ever was…_

He walked over to her and kissed her cheek softly. All the pain, loneliness, suffering that she was going through. He had experienced that before. He shouldn't have hated her then.

Then, without thinking, he fell fast asleep on the bed next to Rinoa.


	5. Not yet a happy ending

**Hatred to Love **

**A/N: **Hey there again! Luckily for me, I took a _little _break, so I decided to write out another chapter, because I haven't updated for a while and also because I know all of you want to see what happens between Rinoa and Squall. This chapter takes place two months after the last chapter. Please read and review! There's a heap of drama in this one! If you don't like it, I'm sorry. It'll fit in with the rest of the story, I can promise you that. Remember, I just invent the drama! Ok, onto the fifth chappie! This is officially _the_ _longest _chapter I've ever written!

**Chapter 5 – Not Yet a Happy Ending**

It's been two months since Squall and Rinoa realised that their hatred for each other was something else. It was actually love. Almost everyone was happy for them. Almost everyone. Except for Mandy, who finally decided that the only way to win Squall back was to get rid of Rinoa Heartilly once and for all.

It had been a bit of a shock to Selphie, Irvine, Zell and Quistis, but they decided that if Rinoa and Squall were happy, then they would be too.

"Leanna, what am I meant to do? Squall's dating Rinoa now!" Mandy wailed into her phone.

Leanna had to hold her phone far away from her ear, because when Mandy wails, screams or cries, they all sound like an unfortunate duck about to die.

"Mandy, can't you be happy for them? I mean, it _was _your fault that Squall broke up with you in the first place. If you hadn't cheated on him with Paul, then you'd probably still be together, so move on sweetie, or get a new boyfriend, please Mandy, leave them both alone" Leanna said softly into the phone.

Mandy snorted into the phone. "Some friend you are Leanna, I thought you'd actually help me in my moment of grief," She said angrily and hung up.

_Oh well, sometimes, you have to be a bad friend in order to be a good friend…_Leanna thought.

The next day…

Rinoa woke up pretty early today for once. Ever since Squall became her boyfriend, she had stopped feeling lonely. Sure her mother was still on her promotional tour and wouldn't be back for around a month and her father was busy working and spending time with Amber, but she didn't really care anymore. She had Squall now and the greatest friends in the world and that's all that really mattered to her right now.

She buttoned up her blouse and put on her skirt and also pulled on her short white socks.

She wanted to be early because a new café had just opened near Balamb High and Zell wanted to test out the food there so he invited Squall, Rinoa, Selphie, Irvine and Quistis to have breakfast with him and he promised that he'd pay for it all if the food didn't satisfy them.

Rinoa ran to her bathroom and grabbed a hairbrush. Her hair was really messy, but after she gently brushed it, her raven hair fell back into place.

After that she ran down the stairs, put on her shoes and ran out the door.

_Wow, if Squall and I weren't partners for science, everything wouldn't have fallen into place like it is now…I feel like my life is complete, even if I hardly ever see my parents that much anymore…_

Today was actually April the First, April Fools Day. While Rinoa was walking on her own to the café she wondered if anyone would prank her today.

As she reached the café, she could hear Selphie and Irvine arguing.

"That was so not funny Irvine!" Selphie yelled throwing spoons and forks at Irvine.

Irvine tried his best to dodge them all, but once in a while, he was hit by some pieces of cutlery.

"Selphie, it's April Fools Day, it was a joke, come on Seffie," Irvine pleaded while trying to place his arm around her shoulders.

Selphie quickly whacked his arm away. "So you think that telling me you had the hots for Erika was funny! Irvine Kinneas, you're gonna wish that you've never met me or dated me!" Selphie yelled.

Almost all of the people that were eating in the café that morning were staring at them with funny expressions on their faces.

"Hey everyone, what's going on?" Rinoa asked as she was sitting down next to Squall.

Quistis rolled her eyes. "Irvine thought it would be funny to tell Selphie that he preferred Erika the loud-mouth to her, our bubbly energetic girl,"

"Yeah and now they're both having a lovers' quarrel," Zell added.

"Rinoa, I hope you didn't mind that I already ordered for you," Squall said softly.

Rinoa looked at Squall with and angelic smile on her pretty face. People at school often told her that she was the only girl besides Mandy who could actually melt the ice in Squall's heart. She wasn't about to pull a Mandy and cheat on Squall after she opened up his heart.

Rinoa knew that Squall loved her, but he was the type of guy who didn't show his feelings. He kept it all on the inside instead of showing it on the outside. That's what she liked most about him. She'd prefer a guy who didn't show his feelings over a guy who was love-crazy. But every now and then, she wished that Squall would tell her how he _really _felt about her.

"Awwww…here's one perfect example of a couple who will never have a lover's quarrel: Rinoa and Squall," Quistis said with a small smile forming on her pretty face.

"Seffie and Irvy, from now on, they'll be your role models," Zell said jokingly.

"No way! We'll be role models for _them_," Selphie replied hastily.

All of them laughed except for Squall who smiled one of his 'rare' smiles.

Then a waitress came out with their breakfast and carefully placed them in front of them.

It only took them five whole minutes to eat all of it.

"So, what do you think of the food? Good or bad?" Zell asked playfully.

At first, no one spoke. They didn't want to be wrong about thinking the food was bad and admitting they were wrong to Zell, so Quistis forked out 150 gil, hoping that it would be enough for all their meals and of course to keep Zell quiet.

"We are so lucky! There's only another 5 days of school left and then there's the holidays! So what are we doing in the holidays? Movies? Sleeping in? Eating hotdogs?" Zell said excitedly.

"Studying for final exams," All of them said in unison.

Zell flinched. He was a good student, really he was. But sometimes, he never really showed it.

"Come on guys! The finals aren't on until August! That's like four months away! Can't we have some fun in our lives? Please?" Zell pleaded.

Zell was still pleading when he realised that everyone on his table was laughing at him. He tried to look serious, but then started laughing as well.

"Crap, school starts in ten minutes; we have to leave now if we want to make it in time for homeroom and listen to sir drone on," Irvine said tucking his chair in.

All of them got up and left the café. Then they made their way to Balamb High. But for some reason, Squall and Rinoa were walking a bit slower than Selphie, Irvine, Quistis and Zell.

"Squall, how come you were so quiet when we were at the café?" Rinoa asked softly so the others wouldn't hear.

Squall blinked as he looked down at his girlfriend's face. "But Rinoa, I wasn't _that _quiet, I talked to you,"

Rinoa laughed. She loved to annoy her Squall. There was so much more to him then meets the eye. She shouldn't have judged him because of the people she thought he associated with; the popular sluts and guys. Just because one hangs around the popular sluts and so-in-love with themselves guys, does not mean one will act like one.

Then she slipped her hand into his. "That's what makes you my Squally," Rinoa said softly so only he could hear.

"I know Rinoa, I know," Squall said.

Squall, who was not a big fan of public affection didn't try to slip his hand away from hers. But for some reason unknown, he liked Rinoa's comfort. She was the one who truly tried to understand him. The past two months had been the most pleasant of his life. Rinoa had come into his life, lightened it up and stayed in his life. He hoped that she wouldn't leave his life, the same way Mandy did. Their love for each other was just like two years ago…except more.

_Why am I even thinking about Mandy? I have Rinoa now and that's all that really matters to me. I'll never ever cheat on Rinoa. If I ever did, I'd be shattering her world as well as mine. I'll never forgive myself if I do. _

They might have fallen for each other in a short amount of time, but if you know deep down in your heart that they're the 'one' then you wouldn't really care if it took you a couple of weeks to figure out your true feelings and emotions to fall in love.

"Squall, Rin! If you stay like that any longer then it'll practically be the weekend!" Zell called out.

Rinoa giggled while Squall grunted.

Then they both quickly ran to the school with a few minutes to spare. First period was homeroom for them and the others.

"I'm going to ignore that Selphie Tilmitt," Quistis said shaking her head.

"Come on Quisty! I have Irvine, Zell _almost _has that library girl, what's her name again? Oh yeah, Kate. Squall has Rinoa and you have no one," Selphie counted off.

Quistis scowled. "Hasn't a little spark in that little pea sized brain of yours ever thought that I'm perfectly fine without a boyfriend in my life? Or are you just _way_ too happy to realise that?"

Zell and Irvine grinned at each other. It was obvious that Quistis had won today's round of 'Quistis versus Selphie'.

"I am NOT always happy! Are you planning on becoming a priest or a nun? Or are you perfectly fine staying a virgin for all your entire lonely miserable life?" Selphie shot back.

"Hey Quistis, are you sure you plan on staying a virgin for the rest of your life? I'm available tonight if ya want me sweetie," A guy called out.

"Shut up Paul! Don't you have Mandy to get it on with?" Quistis snapped back.

Selphie sunk into her chair and sighed in defeat. Against Quistis, she'd probably never be able to win in their arguments.

Irvine leaned over and tenderly kissed her cheek. "It's ok Seffie; you're always a winner in my eyes,"

She smiled a little while he kissed her, but then she swiftly slapped his face away.

"Ouch! What was that for Seffie?" Irvine complained while rubbing his cheek which was now bright red.

Selphie pointed a finger at him. "Don't you think that I'm going to fall for your tricks that easily cowboy! Just because I go weak when you kiss me doesn't mean that I've forgotten about our little argument today…"

Zell chuckled. "Busted Kinneas,"

Irvine glared at Zell.

"What are you glaring at me for? _I'm _not the one who told my girlfriend that I preferred a big-mouthed chick," Zell started.

Irvine rolled his eyes. "It was a joke Zell, today's April Fools' Day. You know the tradition; you prank someone and then say 'Haha! April Fools'!' Don't you know that?"

Zell sighed. "Well, it was your fault anyway. And I don't want to listen or watch another round of "Quistis versus Selphie" or "Selphie killing Irvine," ok?"

"How's it my fault?" Irvine asked.

"Who was the one that told her that I preferred Erica to her? Who was the one that just had to prank his girlfriend on April Fools' Day? Let me think…you Kinneas," Zell said.

The pair of them argued for a while until Squall and Rinoa walked in.

"How is it that every time we walk in, someone's arguing?" Rinoa asked playfully.

"If it isn't the couple that wants to make me vomit," Mandy whispered to her clique. Leanna however rolled her eyes. She was a loyal friend to Mandy, but nowadays, Mandy was getting nastier and nastier which really bothered Leanna.

Mandy walked over to where Zell, Selphie, Rinoa, Squall, Irvine and Quistis were sitting and casually chatting and teasing each other.

"Hi gang! How are you all?" Mandy said in a fake sweet voice that made people want to gag.

"Hi gang?" Selphie said choking on her words.

Mandy gave her the evil eye and casually pulled up a chair and sat down near Squall. "Bite me Selphie," She sneered.

"I've been doing some thinking sweetie. Don't all celebrities give their exes a second chance? What about you give me one Squally?" Mandy said and gently slipped her hand into his.

Everyone in the classroom looked at them. Mandy what the hell are you thinking?

Squall quickly took his hand out of hers. "Mandy, for the last time, leave us all alone! And get lost! I have a girlfriend now. Why would you compare us to celebrities?"

Mandy looked alarmed. "Squally…Please? One more chance honey? Maybe you'll realise that _we _were meant to be and not you and ugh Rinoa. If you just use that brain underneath that gorgeous mop of brown hair of yours, you just might realise that you and Rinoa won't last that long anyway. We on the other hand lasted for very a long time," Mandy said softly while entwining Squall's fingers with hers.

"_That _was before you figured that two boyfriends were better than one Mandy," Irvine interrupted.

Squall looked at her coldly. "How many chances have I given you? Now for the frickin' last time, get a life! And if you already have one, then get a better one that includes a guy that will dearly wait on you. But that guy better not be me!"

Mandy snorted and got out of her chair. She looked at them all sneeringly and said "Fine then! I tried to give you a chance Squall! Don't expect any more from me!"

Squall just stared at her coldly through his ice blue eyes.

Then looking over to Rinoa she spat "Rinoa, I hope that you enjoy your trip to Deling this afternoon! And expect a new school as well!"

"What was that all about?" Irvine asked when Mandy walked sadly and furiously back to her seat.

"A new school and a trip to Deling? Wow Rin," Zell exclaimed.

"I'm sure that she was just bluffing and trying real hard to freak me out," Rinoa said with a sly smile.

"Rinoa, you never know. Expect the unexpected," Quistis said with a look of concern on her face.

"How would she know anyways? It's not like she's very smart or anything, I remember last year in a class math test, she got like 35 or something, the lowest in the whole class!" Selphie said giggling.

Then Rinoa and Selphie both burst into a fit of giggles.

"Selphie," Quistis scowled.

"What now? Well, it's true she did get 35! Mr. Smith read out everyone's test results and he said if we got a low mark, we should be very ashamed so that we'll study harder for the next surprise test he'll give us," Selphie said, the laughter still in her eyes.

"Selphie, what I mean is just because she's mean to us, doesn't mean we have to gossip about her. That goes for you too Rinoa, you never know what she can do to you behind your back," Quistis said with a worried look.

"Oh Quisty, stop worrying, all this stress and pressure might lead to wrinkles," Zell said winking to Irvine.

"Yeah Quisty, you know what that means don't ya? You might not ever get a boyfriend or a husband!" Irvine said and he and Zell both cracked up.

Quistis sighed remembering today's little argument.

This was going to be one entirely long day…

The bell finally rung and all the students were finally let out of the classroom by their English teacher. One more week until the holidays!

Squall and everyone else (English was the only class that everyone in their group was in) quickly walked outside before Mandy had a chance to continue her whining and begging, just in a pathetic attempt to win Squall back.

"Are you two going to come over to my place and stay for the night?" Irvine asked. "My parents have left for some business trip, so yeah. All they said was 'No wild parties Irvy and please look after yourself',"

"Nope, Squall's going to help me baby-sit for a neighbour today. I promised that I'd baby-sit ages ago, so I can't really cancel on her," Rinoa explained while Squall was standing nearby trying not to blush.

"Bye! See you two lovers on Monday!" Selphie yelled at the top of her lungs while the others waved at them.

"Rinoa, why'd you tell them that we were baby-sitting when we really aren't?" Squall asked after the others left.

Rinoa pouted. "Don't you want to spend some time with me?"

Squall sighed. "I do, but Rinny, you don't have to lie to our friends,"

Rinoa laughed softly while she and Squall were walking back to her house.

_We've spent some intimate moments together, but why won't he tell me that he loves me? _

When they finally reached her house, she opened the door and walked into the kitchen with Squall.

"What do you want to eat Squall?" Rinoa asked while opening the fridge and looking inside.

"I'm not hungry,"

"Fine then Squally," Rinoa replied and took an apple to eat.

"Rinoa, I think you have a message on your answering machine," Squall said.

Still munching on her apple, Rinoa walked over to where Squall was standing.

She clicked on the 'Play' button of the machine.

"_Hello Rinoa, it's your father here. I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping in contact with you." _

Rinoa choked on her apple. _Father? _

"_As you see my dear, I've had very important issues to work out and I was very busy with work, but now that your mother's on her tour and I've completed all my work, what about you come over this afternoon and we can spend some time together and get to know each other a bit more. I have missed you my little angel," _

Squall raised his eyebrows. He knew Richard Caraway better than that. It was obvious that Richard wanted something from Rinoa. But what was it?

_Liar. You probably only miss me because Amber's dumped you already. I know you way better than that. _

"_So please come visit me today, we have some very important issues to discuss, goodbye for now my dearest daughter, you were always my favourite," _

_I am your only daughter. _Rinoa thought bitterly.

"Rinoa are you okay?" Squall asked his girlfriend.

Rinoa ran into his arms. "Oh Squall, what do I do? He wants to see me now! I thought Mother and I did a good job of keeping him from contacting us,"

Squall pulled her closer to him and stroked her hair. "It's ok Rinny, its ok to be afraid,"

Rinoa loved how he embraced her. It made her feel loved and protected.

"But I might as well see him, if that's what the old man wants," Rinoa muttered.

"Can we go by your limo Squall?" Rinoa asked and looked up into his eyes.

Squall sighed. "Fine,"

"Thanks Squall," Rinoa said happily and kissed his cheek.

At Caraway's Mansion…

"Squall, do you want to go in first?" Rinoa asked when they arrived in front of her father's mansion.

"Rinoa, he's your father and not mine. I should be the one that's afraid because isn't it a father's job to hate his daughter's boyfriend?" Squall said with a small smile on his face.

Rinoa smiled back at him weakly.

Squall sighed. "Rinoa, we'll both go in together, but I'll talk to him first while you wait outside of the room, ok?"

Rinoa nodded.

They entered the mansion and walked inside. But several security guards stopped them.

"Name?"

"Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly, here for an important meeting with General Caraway," Squall said with a smirk on his face.

They opened the big doors for Squall and Rinoa to proceed inside.

"I haven't been here in ages! But I still remember where all the rooms are," Rinoa said blissfully while holding onto Squall's arm.

Squall smiled at Rinoa's happiness. _I wonder if she remembers…_

"Look, there's the ballroom!" Rinoa said pointing to a large room that could've been suitable for parties and dancing.

_Flashback _

"_Squall, you know that I'll always be with you forever," Rinoa said with a happy sigh while leaning on Squall's chest. _

"_I know Rinoa, I know. Anyway, it's your thirteenth birthday party, you should be dancing with other guys instead of just me," Squall said. _

_Rinoa looked around. Most of them were snobby rich people and their children from her father's country club. She wasn't allowed to invite any of her friends at all. The only person she knew besides her parents was Squall. _

"_I don't care for them at all Squall, I want to be with you, always," Rinoa said with a warm smile on her face. _

"_Is that a promise Princess?" Squall said teasingly. _

_Rinoa led him outside the ballroom away from all the people. "Yes, my knight," She said when they were alone outside. And she kissed him on the lips and he pulled her closer to him. One birthday party to remember always…_

_End Flashback._

"We're here Squall," Rinoa whispered when they were outside of her father's office.

Squall simply nodded.

He walked inside by himself. Richard was still on the phone.

When he was finished with the call, he looked up at Squall. "You again?"

"Yeah," Squall said.

"What are you doing here in my mansion?" Richard asked.

"I'm here with Rinoa," Squall replied.

"Leave her alone! She's already been hurt by you once and she's not going to be hurt by you again,"

"The first time was an accident Richard! I didn't intend for her to get hurt!" Squall said, the anger in his voice rising.

"Really Squall? Then how come for the first couple of months, she didn't remember anyone? She didn't recognise anyone, until she finally remembered everything, except for the accident and of course her memories of the times you both spent together," Richard said with an evil smile on his face.

"Don't remind me!" Squall said loudly almost yelling.

"Let me see Rinoa," Richard said calmly.

"What?" Squall asked.

"Let me see Rinoa, but you must wait outside for her," Richard said even more calmly.

Squall grunted and then left the room.

"How'd it go?" Rinoa asked.

"It went fine Rinoa, but he wants to see you now," Squall said not meeting Rinoa's eyes.

"Yeah," Rinoa said sadly and walked into her father's office.

"Hello Father," Rinoa said.

Her father smiled. "Sit down Rinoa,"

Rinoa sighed then walked over to the chair and sat on it. "Look I don't have much time right now, so can you just talk about what you called me here for? Something about an important issue to discuss?"

"Ah, yes that. Rinoa, my dear, what do you feel about attending a private school?" Richard asked.

"Um, all the children of your colleagues go to private schools. I really don't like them, nor do I dislike them," Rinoa said looking out the window.

"Rinoa, there's a very prestigious private school not far from this mansion; it has everything I've ever wanted for you. Qualified, higher experienced teachers, better discipline, smaller classes and it has the best education money can buy. And I'll be able to see you almost every day. So what do you think?" Richard asked warmly.

"Father, I like my school a lot and I won't attend a private school! If I do attend that school, won't I have to travel quite a bit?" Rinoa asked weakly.

Richard nodded. "That's why Amber and I both decided it's best for you to stay here, in this mansion with us while your mother's gone. You'll be able to see me everyday, it's easy for you to get to school and best of all, you'll get to spend some quality time with your soon-to-be stepmother and stepsister!"

"Stepmother and stepsister? As in Amber and her…daughter? Is this an April Fools' joke? No way! I refuse!" Rinoa yelled and stood up from her seat and ready to run out the door.

"Rinoa Caraway, sit yourself back down this instant! How dare you use that tone whilst speaking to me?" Richard roared.

"Heartilly. My last name is Heartilly and always will be," Rinoa said through clenched teeth and quickly before her father could say anything ran out the door.

Richard shook his head sadly.

Squall stood up quickly when he heard Rinoa's footsteps. "What's wrong Rinoa?"

Rinoa looked up at him with a tear stricken face. "Let's go back to your house,"

Squall wanted to know what was going on, but he knew that now wasn't the best time to ask questions.

Squall was just about to walk one way when Rinoa pulled him back. "Wait Squall! The security guards have probably been alerted by my father, so let's go another way,"

"Another way?"

Rinoa nodded smiling mischievously. "Follow me,"


	6. Tender

**Hatred to Love **

**A/N:** Expect slower updates than usual, because of school. Sorry for that! It's really not my fault that my teachers love nothing more than to give out tests and assignments whenever they feel like it. To Angelsorceress, I'm really sorry, but I think Mandy will be what you think she is! Rinoa might be able to survive her and that's all I'm saying! This chapter is just an introduction of the real interesting things to come, so I'm really sorry if it's boring! Just bear with me for now. That's all I ask.

**Chapter 6 – Tender **

_I was only thinking about the education you are getting at that ridiculous public school of yours Rinoa. You'd do so much better at Deling Academy. You probably don't remember this, but I planned for you to attend Deling Academy ever since you started high school, but then your mother and I had to get divorced and you decided that you just had to live with Julia, _Richard thought.

Rinoa led Squall down the long hall and into a dark passage way.

_What are you up to now Rinoa? _Squall thought.

"Don't worry Squall, I used this little passage way all the time when I was younger," Rinoa said with a mischievous smile.

"Funny, I thought that you were just crying before and now you're cheerful already?" Squall said with hints of sarcasm while rolling his eyes.

"Whatever Squall," Rinoa said in the same tone that Squall uses regularly.

They ran down the passage for what seemed like forever until Rinoa finally said that they were out of Caraway's mansion.

"There, now that was a good little shortcut!" Rinoa said with a sweet smile on her innocent, attractive face.

Squall looked at her as if she was crazy. "Are you joking Rinoa? That was the _longest _shortcut I've ever taken,"

Rinoa giggled as she pulled him along with her. _You probably haven't taken that many shortcuts then! _

"We're going to your limo and then back to your house, ok Squall?" Rinoa said looking up at him.

Squall simply nodded. She had told him earlier that she wanted to stay at his house for the night. Rinoa refused to stay under the same roof as the man who had wrecked her and her mother's life. And she didn't want to stay alone in her house. It made her feel 'abandoned'. Luckily, Laguna was on a business trip with Raine in Dollet while Ellone was staying at a friend's house for the weekend. So that meant that they would be all alone. Together.

"Now, where did your chauffer park that limo?" Rinoa asked gently while scanning the road for the limo.

Squall looked down at her. He had to smile at the sight of her. She was like an angel to him. His angel. She could easily touch people's hearts and melt the ice within them. He didn't want to let her go again after all they had been through together. He was somewhat glad that he had stopped hating Rinoa for insulting him and saying sarcastic remarks. She had always called him an obnoxious, cocky rich guy who had nothing better to do than sleep with a different girl every two weeks. Now, she was always there for him and he was always there for her ever since two months ago. But the only time when he couldn't be there for her…The accident two years ago…The one that lost him his twin sister, left Rinoa critically injured and almost lost him his very own life…

"Rinoa, my chauffer parked the limo over there," Squall said and pointed over to a small street opposite to where they were standing.

Rinoa looked up at him and beamed. She loved Squall so much even though they had only been together for a short period of time. She wanted to tell Squall that she loved him, but she was afraid of how he would react. She knew that Squall kept all his feelings bottled up inside, but honestly; she wanted him to show that he cared for her by saying three simple words that almost every girl wanted to hear from her boyfriend.

_Oh Squall, why won't you ever tell me how you feel? I want you to come out and say how you truly feel, not me choking you and forcing you to admit your feelings…its simple Squall. Eight letters, three words, one meaning. I want you to say 'I love you' to me! But if you said it right now at this very moment, I'd think that you bumped your head really hard while we were taking the shortcut. Because it's not like you to blurt out your feelings and I know that. Or maybe it's just too soon, I mean, it has only been just two months so far, but the idea of me choking Squall, just so he could tell me that seems like a pretty good idea to me… _Rinoa thought.

Squall looked over to Rinoa and wondered why she didn't cross the road and head over to the limo yet. Squall sighed and saw the expression on her face. It wasn't really sad, yet it looked like she was trying hard not to smile. Squall quickly grabbed her hand and dragged her across the road with him.

"Rinoa, what's wrong?" Squall asked her once they were across the road and near the limo.

Rinoa remained silent and slipped into the limo and sat down on the leather seats. She had acted like Squall didn't even ask her the question. "Squall, if you don't hurry up, the chauffer will leave without you and I don't think you'll enjoy walking back to your house since it's so far away from here,"

Squall smirked. _Why did she try to avoid my question? Caraway, what did you poison her mind with this time? _

Squall muttered something under his breath as he slipped into the car next to Rinoa.

After some time in the limo, Squall looked over at Rinoa who was leaning on his left shoulder.

"Rinoa, tell me the truth, what's wrong and what happened when you were alone with, um, him?" Squall asked quietly.

Rinoa looked up at him in surprise. Squall, wanting to know what others felt? He probably _did _hit his head when they were both running down the passageway.

Rinoa laughed quietly and slipped her hand into his. Squall felt a little shocked at what Rinoa did, but he gave in to her feelings of affection anyway.

Rinoa smiled tenderly at him. "My father wants me to move to Deling with him and attend some prestigious private school called Deling Academy. Also, because he wants me to get to know my soon to be stepmother Amber and her possibly snobby daughter, my soon to be stepsister,"

_Amber? As in Amber Portman? This really isn't good…I wonder if Rinoa knows who Amber's daughter is yet? _

Squall became silent. If Rinoa went along with Caraway's idea, he would lose the one he loved…If Rinoa went along with it, she'd probably forget about him just like that…If Rinoa did eventually go to that private school, attending Balamb High would have no reason at all except for his friends, Selphie, Zell, Quistis and Irvine…If…

_Stop thinking about that! Rinoa wouldn't attend Deling Academy, she just won't. She's stubborn and she'll never go to that school even if her life depended on it… Why am I thinking so much today? _

"Squall, are you ok? Really, that's all we discussed. Me and my father that is," Rinoa said while playing with his Griever chain necklace.

Squall looked out at the window. The gentle wind was swaying the trees outside like it had no care in the world at all. Several flower petals flew in rhythm with the soft, gentle breeze. The sky was getting darker, but was lit by the many stars that were in the night sky at that very moment. Life was really worth living and enjoying again, after Rinoa became his girlfriend. The beauty of life had become visible to him once again. But if she left for Deling and just saying, didn't get to see him that often, what would life really be worth?

"Do you…Do you really want to go live with him and attend that school?" Squall said a little lost for words.

Rinoa, who had been resting her head in his lap looked up into his grey blue eyes and smiled weakly. "Not really Squall. But this might be my only chance to get to know my father. I do respect him, but he broke my mother's heart. I just don't want to get to know Amber. I feel like he's betrayed my mother and me in a way. And as for the private school, I'm not that sure yet…but I'm pretty sure that I have no choice in this,"

"But anyways Squally, I'm a little sleepy, so I'll take a quick rest…" Rinoa whispered before closing her eyes.

Squall winced at the nickname that Rinoa insisted was 'cute'.

He looked down at her now sleeping body. He smiled a bit at the sight of her. She looked like a baby angel. He stroked her raven black hair softly. He was going to miss their moments together, if she left. She'd probably be too busy with her studies than worry about spending any time with him.

* * *

Half and hour later…

"Come on Rinoa, we're at my house now," Squall mumbled softly to the sleeping Rinoa.

Rinoa mumbled a bit but still kept her eyes shut.

"Rinoa…please wake up," Squall whispered exhaustedly.

He groaned and then proceeded to carefully pick her up and carry her gently in his arms.

_The things that I do for love…Seriously, sometimes love can do strange things to you. Like it does to me. _

"Master Leonhart, you look like you have your arms, err full right now. Would you like me to open the doors for you?" His chauffer said.

Squall nodded gratefully and walked to the door with his chauffer and Rinoa still sleeping peacefully in his arms.

When they reached the door, his chauffer was still getting the keys out from his pocket. "Does she remember yet, Master Leonhart?"

Squall shook his head. "Not yet. If she does, then all of us involved will have a lot of explaining to do and she'll probably be very angry at us for lying to her all these years,"

His chauffer smiled at him. "Well, we have tried very hard to cover up the truth. If she ever finds out, we're all in deep trouble. Alright then, just let me know if you need anything," And then he opened the door for Squall to walk through.

"I will," Squall said in a slightly friendly tone.

_First, I'll put Rinoa down into my room where she can continue sleeping; I'll shower after that and then cook dinner for the both of us. Thank god that I don't have to cook for anyone else. The chauffer should be leaving soon and the maids, cooks, gardeners and the housekeeper have already gone home for the night. If they ate anything that I cooked, they'd probably go home sick…but Rinoa might pretend that it's an appetising meal and quickly try to eat it all up, even if it tasted really bad. Because that's the kind of girl she is. _

He walked up the stairs slowly and carefully, so that he wouldn't wake Rinoa. When he got to his room, he swiftly and quietly kicked the door open, walked inside his bedroom and then gently placed Rinoa on his bed. He took out another warm blanket from his closet and placed it over Rinoa's body.

"Sweet dreams Rinoa," He whispered and stroked her cheek affectionately before placing a tender kiss on it.

Rinoa stirred a little but still didn't wake up.

Before leaving his room, Squall grabbed some clothes and a towel out of his closet so he could shower. He quietly left his room after that.

* * *

"Irvine! Baby, what's this?" Selphie asked while looking through Irvine's bookcase which was in his bedroom.

Selphie, Zell and Quistis were spending the night at Irvine's mansion, while his parent's were away for some business trip. Rinoa and Squall were invited to come, but they were too busy 'babysitting'.

"Baby?" Quistis repeated with a devious smile.

Selphie stuck her tongue out at Quistis.

Irvine looked over to his girlfriend, Selphie Tilmitt. "That? I have no idea. Sorry Sefie,"

"Idiot, it's our photo album," Zell said with a small snicker.

"What photo album?" Irvine asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Quistis took the photo album and quickly looked through it. "The photo album filled with photos of you guys from year 7 til now with all your popular guy and girl friends. Oh and some random shots of Squall and Rinoa together. They look pretty young there. Wait, Squall and Rinoa! Our Squall and Rinoa!"

"Really? Our Squall and Rinoa? Well, we don't know any other people named Squall and Rinoa anyway," Zell remarked with a spark of interest.

"Let me see Quisty!" Selphie squealed happily and tried to snatch it off Quistis.

"Selphie, please ask me politely if you can that is," Quistis said with a small scowl.

"You're not my mother Quisty! So you can't boss me around!" Selphie shot back.

"Oh _that _photo album! I had no idea that I still had it yet owned it!" Irvine said with a playful smile. Quistis and Zell both rolled their eyes. Sometimes, they wondered why Irvine acted ditsy like his own girlfriend. She probably taught him some of her own bad habits.

The three of them peered over Quistis' shoulder to get a glimpse of all of the photos.

Most of the sleeves were labeled with what school years they were in. Quistis flipped the album back to the beginning and turned the album pages slowly so all of them could see the pictures clearly.

In the first couple of photos there was Squall and Rinoa together and they were both smiling and they had their arms around each other.

_But that can't be true! Squall and Rinoa were together ever since two months ago! But why do the pictures show something that's definitely not true? I mean, the label clearly says 'Year 7' while I know that that couldn't be possible! _Quistis thought.

Zell and Irvine were both quiet. They didn't know when they would have to reveal the truth to them, but today was probably going to be the day.

Then the others were filled with Squall, Zell, Irvine and the rest of the popular crowd at school. Squall didn't have the same friendly expression anymore like in the photos before. In these pictures, his face looked emotionless and pained. What had happened during that period of time?

The ones after that had some random shots of all the guys and Mandy and Squall together. As a couple, Selphie and Quistis both guessed. But where the hell was Rinoa?

…_Mandy and Squall got together at the end of year 8 and remained boyfriend and girlfriend til the beginning of this year…_Selphie thought.

Squall still looked cold and tense, but his facial expressions had softened a bit.

_Did Mandy really do this? Did she really melt the ice within his heart, after he turned... cold? _Quistis thought.

"Zell, Irvine…could you please explain all of this?" Selphie finally asked after the long period of silence and gestured to the photo album.

After remaining quiet for some time now, Zell spoke up. "Come outside and sit down. We'll explain everything to you and we'll answer all of your questions,"

The four of them walked outside to Irvine's balcony and sat down on the garden seats.

"Please, do tell us now!" Selphie blurted out.

Irvine pulled his chair closer to hers and placed his arm around her slender shoulders.

"I will. Let's just say that Rinoa didn't always hate Squall like it seemed…" Zell began.

Quistis and Selphie leaned in closer to listen to the truth about the unknown past that had been haunting some of them for quite some time now…

* * *

Mandy paced around her room. It was hard to believe, but it wasn't _that _unbelievable. She had to call her friends and tell them the good news. She had been keeping it to herself for quite a while now, but kind of let it slip in homeroom today when she was yelling at Rinoa with hatred and anger. But that was the only first half of her happy news. Usually when there's something she was excited about, she'd tell her friends immediately, however she had to wait until it was just right. Like now.

But before calling all her closest friends to tell them her news, she had to do something first.

She walked over to her bulletin board which was across the other side of her room. The bulletin board that had all her photos including the photos that she held closely to her heart. She scanned them, looking for the photo that she wanted to see at that moment. She found it and her heart fluttered.

It was the photo that she took of her ex-boyfriend, Squall Leonhart. It was kind of a close-up shot and Squall didn't really know that he was being photographed at that moment, but it still looked like a professional photo anyway. She treasured that photo the most out of all her photos.

Mandy smiled sorrowfully at the sight of that photo. _Those were the good old days. But why? Why did I have to go and cheat on Squall? He was all that I ever wanted and he was all that and more, but Paul? Seriously, he was so good looking, but he really lacked in the brains department. _

She stroked the photograph lovingly as if it were the real person himself. _Soon Squall. Soon I'll have you all to myself just like before. Thanks to someone kicking a certain girlfriend of yours off to a private school in Deling City. I hate to keep you waiting, but it won't be much longer baby. I promise. _

Then, Mandy realised that she shouldn't be hanging around there and drooling over a photo of Squall. She should be calling all her friends and telling them the good news.

She picked up her phone which was on her bedside table and started dialing her closest friend, Leanna's number.

After a few rings, someone finally picked up.

"Hello?" A young voice said softly, almost inaudible.

"Hi there, could I please speak to Leanna?" Mandy asked the child sweetly.

"I'm not allowed to give out information about my sister to strangers," The voice replied in the same sweet manner.

Mandy knew that Leanna's little brother was just testing out her patience, but it was now wearing thin.

"I am NOT a stranger. I am Leanna's best friend, so could I please talk to her _now_ or you never know what I could do to you…" Mandy said frostily.

"Then I'll DOB on you," He replied with hints of fear in his voice.

Bored, Mandy was inspecting her nails just in case they were chipped or had some invisible specks of dirt in them.

They continued to argue for a while, until Leanna came to ask Jason something.

"Who are you talking to Jason?" A sweet, high pitched voice asked kindly.

"Some stranger wants to talk to you Leanna,"

"Sorry for that. Hi!" Leanna said pleasantly into the receiver.

"My god! Is that how hard it is just to talk to you on the phone?" Mandy asked coolly with a hint of sarcasm.

Leanna instantly recognised the voice. "Mandy. What is your problem? Jason is only six years old. He doesn't know any better. Also, we can't all help it that we're not perfect like some people I know,"

Mandy heard the hints of hurt in her voice. "I'm sorry Anna. I know that I've been…I've been a bit of a bitch lately, but I can't help it. You know that I want Squall back so badly and I'll do anything to get him back,"

Leanna was surprised. "So…so you admit that you've been acting bitchy lately?"

Mandy groaned. "If it makes you happy and keeps you as my best friend, then yes I'll admit it,"

"What did you want to tell me Mandy?" Leanna asked curiously.

"Oh that…" Mandy said slowly with a pleased smile on her face.

"Tell me now or I'll get Jason to talk to you!" Leanna threatened playfully.

Mandy laughed. "Ok, ok. You know how this morning I told Rinoa that she was going to go to Deling City and to expect a private school as well?"

"Yeah, go on," Leanna said twisting the cord of her phone and leaning against the wall.

"Well, where should I start off?" Mandy said and sat down on her big, fluffy bed.

_Actually I know where to start off. Wait til' everyone finds out…_

* * *

Rinoa was peacefully napping on Squall's bed. She was really tired today, but now she felt fresh again.

_Where…where am I? _

Rinoa stirred. She did feel fresh, but was still pretty tired.

_Flashback _

"_I don't like you Squall. You're always so cold and mean to me," announced a seven year old Rinoa Heartilly-Caraway. _

_Squall remained silent. His piercing electric blue eyes stared coldly into her pretty chocolate brown ones. _

"_You say that now Rinoa darling, but wouldn't it be funny Julia, if one day, they ended up married to each other?" Raine Leonhart-Loire asked her friend, Julia Heartilly-Caraway. Rinoa's mother. _

_Julia smiled. It was true that the two had been arguing about almost everything. But deep down, Julia knew that Squall did care for Rinoa. Just like a little sister. Or maybe more. _

_Squall rolled his eyes. _

"_Ew! Don't even go there Auntie Raine!" Rinoa wailed with a wince on her innocent, adorable face. _

_Raine and Julia both laughed softly. They both knew that one day Rinoa and Squall would eventually end up together. One way or the other. _

"_I'm going to go outside Mummy to try to find Adelina. Rinoa, I'll show you that I'm not so…so mean," He said coolly and simply took her small, lily-white hand and led her outside into the garden with him. _

"_Be careful Squall. You too Rinoa," Raine called. _

"_Now, where were we Julia?" Raine asked with a smile._

_How were they meant to know that their little prediction that was meant to be a joke, would actually one day, come true? _

_End Flashback. _

Rinoa rolled over and instead of still lying on Squall's bed, she rolled right off it!

"Ouch," Rinoa muttered to herself.

_That flashback that I had before… That was probably just a hallucination, same with the one that I had when we were at my father's mansion. I haven't known Squall since I was a child! Hell, I only knew him since year 9! _

She quickly got up and made Squall's bed. She realised that she was still in her Balamb High uniform, so she got a spare change of clothes out of her bag and rushed into the shower as fast as she could.

Squall sighed with relief. It had taken him long enough to cook, but he had finished preparing the dinner for him and Rinoa to eat. It actually even looked good enough to eat! The last time that he prepared something for his whole family to eat, they all got food poisoning! But Laguna, Raine and Ellone didn't want to tell Squall that he was a bad cook. Instead they all just told him that it was wonderful to eat, except they had too much to eat and got really bad stomachaches.

He got out forks, spoons, knives, bowls and plates and placed them all on the kitchen table. He didn't want to eat in the dining room, because it seemed too formal to him. Too formal for just enjoying a nice, quiet evening with Rinoa.

He sat down on one of the seats that accompanied the kitchen table. He sighed with relief. Finally, he had finished everything he intended to do tonight. All that was missing was Rinoa.

He looked outside the window. A light drizzle had begun to fall from the night sky.

After waiting for quite a while now, Squall felt a bit hungry and wanted to eat, but not without Rinoa. He knew that it was rude to just barge in while Rinoa was sleeping, wake her up and announce that he wanted to eat. That didn't seem right to him.

He walked up the stairs. Wait he walked _quickly _up the stairs and into his bedroom. The door was open, but Squall didn't bother to notice that.

The calming atmosphere in his room made it a peaceful place to be. But, something or rather _someone _was missing. Rinoa Heartilly was no where to be seen in his room.

Squall sighed after he looked around his room for Rinoa. His window was open and a cool, gentle breeze was blowing into his room. He curved his mouth to form a little smile when the breeze brushed against his hair.

_I'm beginning to appreciate life again. Just like I did before…_

Squall leaned against the wall and looked sideways outside the window that let the breeze come in. _Did Rinoa escape through the window? _

Rinoa toweled her hair dry. She couldn't find a blow-dryer, so she just decided to use a towel to dry her hair instead.

She splashed some warm water onto her face and that's when she truly felt refreshed and awake again.

She smiled at her reflection in the mirror and dried her face with a towel. She walked out of the bathroom and back into Squall's room to place her uniform in to her bag.

Rinoa saw that he was leaning against the wall, his back facing her. She suddenly smiled cheekily and walked up to her boyfriend as quietly as she could. She leaned up to him and placed her hands gently around his eyes.

"Guess who?" Rinoa whispered softly into his ear.

Squall, whose eyes were now covered by her hands, replied. "Rinoa, I know that it's you. You could help me by taking me out of this darkness," He said huskily.

They both laughed softly. Squall took her hands into his and looked down at her with a gentle smile on his handsome face. Something that he hadn't done in a long time.

Rinoa was about to open her mouth to speak, but Squall placed a finger on her lips.

He tilted her face up to his and leaned down to place a soft kiss on her lips.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her closer to him. She could feel the warmth of his strong chest.

And there they were. Two young lovers in the darkness of his bedroom, with not a single care for the world. All they needed was each other right then. They had no clue on what would be in store for them in the following days, weeks or months…

* * *

Leanna was listening to Mandy talk to her. From what Leanna had heard so far, things weren't going to be so easy for Squall _or _Rinoa.

"So, what do you think of it?" Mandy asked eagerly.

If looks could kill and could be transferred over the phone line, Mandy would've been on her bedroom floor by now.

"Anna?"

Leanna cleared her throat. "Mandy. That was the most awful thing that I've ever heard. What happened to the old Mandy Portman? The sweet, innocent girl who was totally against being bitchy or slutty? Mandy, this time you've gone way too far. I am no longer your best friend," Leanna said with tears brimming out of her bright emerald green eyes while she sunk to her knees.

Mandy however, didn't even notice that her friend was crying over the phone. "Anna, no one's asking you to help me with my plan. All I want is for you to support me and Squall back and you know that,"

But Leanna didn't hear that for she had already hung up.

Mandy choked back silent tears. _I'm sorry Leanna. But if it's the way you want things to be, then so be it. _

She waited a couple of moments before calling her other friends. What Leanna had said to her had hit her really hard. But if Leanna wasn't going to be supportive, then she'd be no use to Mandy anymore.

She dialed several of her other friends, but the line was busy. _Ha! Talk to everyone who has all the crap as news. I have the scoop for the next several days! Maybe weeks! _

She sighed in defeat and dialed a number which she thought she'd never ever dial. Erika.

"Hello? This is Erika speaking," Erika said with a bored tone.

Mandy felt her blood boil. "Erika, I don't have that much time. So shut your mouth and listen," She snapped.

Erika's felt her mouth drop open. "Whatever Mandy. I'm listening now,"

Mandy smirked. _Getting Erika to listen to me is like child's play. _

* * *

"That was so good to eat Squall. I never knew that you could cook so well," Rinoa said softly as she snuggled closer to Squall while they were both lying down on the 'princess' sofa in front of the fireplace in the family room.

Squall smiled. _It should've been good to eat! It took me ages to read the recipe as well as find the ingredients and utensils to cook it. _

He had his arm around her shoulder and she was resting her head on his chest.

_This is my kind of evening. Who knew that Squall could be such a romantic? Is it any wonder why every girl wants him? But sorry girls, he's mine! _Rinoa thought with a charismatic smile on her lips.

Rinoa yawned. Squall looked down at her.

"Tired already Princess?' Squall asked.

Rinoa looked up at him with a small smile forming. "Not really. But maybe a dip in your indoor pool will make me feel fresh again,"

Squall sighed as Rinoa giggled.

"Do you still want to go to that private school though Rinoa?"

Rinoa stopped giggling. "I don't want to…but as I said before, I probably have no choice. Unless my mother rings him up and forces him to not make me go,"

_I don't want to lose her…not again…_

Squall began to stroke her hair soothingly.

This was their idea of a typical night in. _Their _night in. They had been through so much already that they of course had to have some time with each other. Even if it was just for one night. But it was one night to remember…always. Nothing could spoil it. Nothing.

* * *

"Shut up Mandy! Shut up! Shut up!" Erika said with a struggle for breath.

"Is that all you can say? Tsk, tsk Erika. I thought you had a reputation for being the school's gossiper as well as the class big mouth," Mandy said coolly.

"What did you just say!" Erika asked with indications of shock and anger.

"Never mind Erika. But pretty soon, I'll be General Caraway's stepdaughter and Rinoa's stepsister. And I'll take much more than just residence in her father's mansion," Mandy said with an evil smile on her face.

"What are you going to take?" Erika asked while carefully trying to apply some lotion onto her face.

Mandy patted the silver chain necklace that was around her neck. The necklace that Squall had given her for her birthday when they were still going out.

"I'm going to take Squall away from Rinoa. And nothing's going to stop me. With my dearest soon to be stepsister at a private school far away from Balamb with Seifer Almasy, it'll be a good time to charm Squall back, don't you agree?" Mandy said looking out the window and gazing dreamily at the drizzle that was falling down from the night sky.

_My poor soon to be stepsister won't have a clue on what's in store for her! _


	7. Always and Forever

**Hatred to Love**

**A/N: **Hey there again! Thank you for your reviews for chapter six! You don't know this, but you're the people that actually inspire me to write more! I know that this fic is mainly centered on Rinoa and Squall and the others in the gang (Quistis, Selphie, Zell and Irvine) don't really have a large role in this fic, but I have thought up possible storylines for them. Enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 7 – Always and Forever **

"Julia! You're due for an interview with _People _Magazine in half an hour!" A man called out.

A beautiful young woman stepped out from her bedroom in the hotel that she was staying in at Timber. She smiled charmingly at the people that were waiting patiently for her.

"Roger, I know that already. I know that I have about a billion interviews, performances, photo shoots and appearances, but I want to get back to Balamb already!" Julia pointed out with a pained smile.

"We all know that Julia, but we've had this scheduled for months! Everyone is expecting you to appear at _all _your interviews, performances, photo shoots and public appearances. This is our last tour before we head back to Balamb and then you can be with your daughter once again. Please Julia; please don't do anything that will stop you from attending any of these events," A woman pleaded.

Julia smiled cheekily at this. She placed her hand over her forehead dramatically and fell back down onto one of the many leather sofas in the room.

All of her entourage dropped everything they were holding and quickly rushed over to Julia.

"Julia! Julia, what did you eat for lunch?"

"Julia, are you alright?"

"What do you need Julia? Your daughter? Medicine? A Doctor? An ice-pack? Tell us what you need or want and we'll do it!"

"Julia, are you feeling weak after everything we've done while we've been here in Timber?"

"She must be really stressed out from her concert,"

Julia smiled halfheartedly. "I…I…I need…"

They all leaned in closely to listen to Julia Heartilly.

"I…I need to get some rest, maybe a two hour break?" She croaked.

Everyone flinched. "Don't even think about it Julia!"

She grabbed her assistant's hand and looked pleadingly into his eyes. "Please? We don't have to cancel the interview with _People_, just postpone it,"

He looked at all the other people that were standing around him. They all nodded solemnly. He sighed.

"Just for two hours, no more, alright Julia?" He finally said.

Julia wanted to jump up and shout with joy, but if she did, they'd know that she was faking it just to get out from her events for the day.

"Y-Yes…David," She said weakly.

"We'll go now, just call us if you need anything," Roger said as he and the others left the hotel room.

Julia nodded.

She stood up and looked around her hotel room contentedly. She fell back down onto the sofa and sighed heavily with relief.

_Finally! Finally I'm on my own! No more work for two hours! _

She closed her eyes, but at that very moment, her mobile rang.

Julia sat up and looked at who the caller was. She grumbled. The caller was _Richard Caraway. _Her ex-husband.

_What does he want now? Did that slut of his break up with him already? _

"Hello!" She practically shouted into her mobile.

"Hello Julia, how have you been? It's Richard," He said calmly.

"How do you think I've been? I'm on tour right now! So I'm stressed out and tired! And I know it's you, you old cow, I have caller ID," She snapped.

He chuckled softly. "You haven't changed at all Julia. Still feisty, I see,"

"I don't have that much time left, I'm supposed to be at a magazine interview in half an hour," She quickly lied.

"Don't worry Julia, this will only take around five minutes of your precious time,"

"I'm listening Richard. If you take any longer to start talking, you'll have died of old age already,"

"I want to know, how would you feel if Rinoa lived with me for about 3 months and attended Deling Academy, the most prestigious private school in Deling City?"

Julia had to bite onto her bottom lip to keep her from laughing out loud. Deling Academy was the least prestigious private school in Deling City!

_Why Deling Academy? That's where all the rich, stupid snobs go to get their so called education. And Rinoa might be rich, but she's not a stupid snob. Is it any wonder why their tuition fees are so high and the students are so…so dim-witted? Well, Richard attended that school when he was a teenager and look what good its done for him. _

"But 3 months! But _I'm _the one with full custody of Rinoa!"

"Uh, no Julia. We both have joint custody, but _you're _the one who acts like you have full custody of our daughter. Besides, you're the one who keeps on jetting off and touring the whole world, is it any wonder why Rinoa took an interest in that Loire-Leonhart guy?"

Julia's beautiful sparkling eyes popped open. _Rinoa's with Squall again? Phew, what a relief. Those two are meant to be together always, but I hope he hasn't told her the truth yet…He better be keeping her safe and happy like it was before the accident. _

"Rinoa can take an interest in any guy she wants to. And it's called a _career _Richard. At least I'm making money with my career, while all you do is sit in an office, answer the phone every couple of seconds and curse at your unfortunate employees and colleagues," Julia remarked in a cold manner.

"And you're implying that I _don't_ have a career! I'll have you know that _my _career…"

"Come on Richard. I know that you don't give a damn about Rinoa. Why would you want her to live with you for three months? Hell, you got pissed off when you only spent _three minutes_ with her when she was a little girl," Julia interrupted.

"I want her to live with me, because I want to spend some time to get to actually know my daughter and I want her to get to know her soon to be stepmother and stepsister,"

"As in you're _marrying _Amber! That…that…that selfish pig who's only after all your money? She is NOT going to be Rinoa's stepmother! Rinoa is perfectly fine with me as her mother and she doesn't need a stepmother or a stepsister, thank you very much Richard! I might not be there for her when she needs me, but we have a very close bond,"

Richard snorted.

"I am _marrying_ Amber and Rinoa will come live with me next week then! Is it a problem that I want to get to know my only daughter?"

"Yes it's a problem. Because half the time, it doesn't seem like you even _have _a daughter! She'll never agree to it anyway, because she has _my _stubborn personality and she hates associating with the snobby children of your colleagues,"

"Actually Julia, she called me this afternoon, she's agreeing with it, but only if she has your consent," Richard said smoothly.

Julia sighed in defeat. There was no point in fighting a losing fight anyway. Especially a losing fight with Richard Caraway.

"Fine then! I'll let her go to Deling Academy, but you have to let her visit me whenever she wants to! And don't you dare let Amber bribe Rinoa with presents to try to buy her love and respect!" Julia hissed.

"Thank you for your consent Julia dear. It was nice chatting to you. We should talk more often," Richard said with a smile.

Then he hung up.

Julia stared at her mobile with disgust. _I HATE that man! How dare he call me after not talking to me for how many years and announce that he's making poor Rinoa live with him in that hellhole of his and attend that stupid private school! This is all my fault. I shouldn't have decided to tour Timber at the last moment. Otherwise, I'd be home having a good laugh with Rinoa. _

Julia felt wet tears sliding down her cheeks. _I'm sorry…darling. _

Zell was laughing so loud and hard that any of the students or the staff at Balamb High could hear it from far away.

"Please Zell, can you stop laughing already?" Quistis begged.

The six of them, were sitting outside on the benches during their lunch break. Everything was calm and peaceful, like it usually was. Until Rinoa told them what had happened on Friday night with her and Squall.

Squall had his eyes closed and was leaning on the tree behind the benches and was also trying hard not to blush. But how could he blame Rinoa? She had done what almost every girl crazily in love would do. Spill all the intimate details about what had happened when they were 'alone'.

"Hey Rinny, you lied to us!" Irvine exclaimed.

Selphie who was excited for Rinoa suddenly realised it too. "Yeah Rinny, you told us you were _baby-sitting_, not spending the night with Squall…"

Rinoa smiled sweetly at them both. "I know that and I'm really, really sorry. But if I told you what our plans were going to be, it'd be all over the school right now, wouldn't it?"

"Well, maybe," Irvine admitted.

"Yeah, but who knew that our Squall could be such so romantic and such a big softie?" Zell asked with a sheepish smile.

"Oh shut up Zell. I happen to know what _you'd _do with that Library Girl if you were alone with her. You told me so yourself so you can't lie yourself out of it," Squall shot back.

Zell felt his face burn up.

"Can I have your attention now, please?" Rinoa asked quietly.

All eyes turned to her. Even Squall opened his eyes to see what was going to happen.

The afternoon breeze blew softly against their hair. Everything had turned back to how it was before. Quiet and full of tranquility again. Rinoa looked around at her friends and her boyfriend, but their peaceful and care-free looking faces couldn't melt the pain in her aching heart.

Rinoa smiled halfheartedly at them, before she let all the crystal tears flow from her beautiful dark brown eyes.

Squall immediately comforted Rinoa by wrapping his arms around her shoulders and Selphie retrieved a packet of tissues from her school bag, while the others had shocked looks on their faces.

"Rinny, what's wrong?" Irvine, Zell and Quistis asked in unison with concern.

Rinoa dried some of her tears with a tissue that Selphie had given her.

Then she continued to bury her face deeper into Squall's chest.

"There, there Rinoa, don't cry," Zell said gently.

Between her sobs, she somehow managed to mumble some words.

"How can I not cry? This…This is the last time I'll be at Balamb High!" She choked.

It took a while for of Rinoa's words to sink in. But the most shocked out of all of them was Squall.

_No! Rinoa can't be leaving for Deling City! She told me that she probably wouldn't…But why? Why would she crawl back to Caraway after what he did to her and her mother…? _Squall thought.

"Rinoa, don't play around with us. What Mandy said to you last week was probably another one of her lies," Irvine said uneasily.

She looked up at all of them with more tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm…I'm not lying. My father asked me to live with him for three months and attend a private school in Deling. I wish that I was just playing around with you…" Rinoa replied while tears dropped from her eyes and stained her white blouse.

"But you don't have to go along with it, do you? Rinny, you're our rebelling princess. Rebel against your father somehow," Zell said with a thin smile on his normally joyful face.

Rinoa managed a smile through all this. "I didn't want to tell you sooner, because I knew that it would hurt all of you. I didn't expect this to happen either, but I want to get to know my father. Besides, just because we won't see each other at school, doesn't mean that we won't ever see each other again,"

"You're right though Rinoa. But we'll miss you lots," Quistis said miserably.

Squall took his arms off Rinoa and began to stroke her silky black hair.

"Rinoa, does your father want something off you?" Irvine asked curiously.

Rinoa turned to look at Irvine. "I thought that he wanted something off me or to take me away from my mother, but he just wants to get to know me better. And he wants me to get to know my soon to be stepmother and stepsister,"

Then all of them became so quiet, that you could hear the trees rustling in rhythm with the breeze and some papers flying.

"Rinoa, do you really want to leave Balamb High?" Selphie asked while throwing her arms around her friend.

Rinoa smiled gently at her. "No, I don't want to. But I really want to get to know my father and who knows, maybe an education at a private school would be better for me,"

"How would it be! Most private school students are rich, arrogant snobs! To tell you the truth, Balamb High would always be better than a private school!" Zell shouted.

"Zell, calm down already," Quistis said haughtily.

"I will not calm down! How can you act like that when one of our friends are going to leave for another school? Selphie's right, you're not our mother!" Zell yelled and stormed off.

"What's wrong with him? Did he get a bad test result or something?" Irvine asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Don't be so selfish Irvine!" Selphie snapped and she ran after Zell.

"What's up with them two? They're not secretly dating behind my back are they?" Irvine asked seriously.

"I wish they would, maybe that would finally put you in your place," Squall muttered.

"Irvine, since when do you care who Selphie dates behind your back? I thought that you were the one who was secretly dating someone behind Selphie's back," Quistis said shaking her head still stunned after being yelled at by Zell.

"Ok. I'll admit it used to date one girl and sneak around with two other girls behind her back. But when I started to date Selphie, I changed. There's something about her that made me want to give up my wild child ways," Irvine confessed.

"Since it's my last day here, can we all be happy like we usually are?" Rinoa asked softly.

The three of them plastered forced smiles onto their faces for Rinoa's sake. But they knew that they couldn't really smile for real knowing that one of their best friends would be leaving them.

"Zell, Zell wait up!" Selphie called while running after him.

Zell was still running but his pace was gradually slowing down.

When Selphie finally caught up with Zell, he didn't look down at her or anything. He was gazing up at the bright blue sky. It was like he was mesmerized.

"Do you still have that bruise on your cheek?" He asked with hints of concern.

Selphie placed a hand on her cheek and smiled sadly. "You still...remember?"

He faced her with a grim look on his face. "How could I not remember it? I _was_ the one who witnessed it anyway. Why did you let her do that to you? Why didn't you stop it?"

Selphie whimpered. The once bubbly, cheerful and bright girl had been replaced with a scared, fragile and scarred (internally) girl. A shadow of who she was.

Zell leaned down to stroke her bruised cheek gently in a caring way.

_Flashback _

"_Zell, Zell. Could you take me back home? Please?" Selphie whispered in a rush while shaking Zell in an attempt to try to wake him up. _

"_Oh EW. He snores and drools," Selphie murmured to herself with horror. _

"_What…what?" said Zell who was still sleeping. _

_That really pissed Selphie off. _

_She slapped his arm. "Wake up! I need a ride home now!" _

_Zell immediately sat up from the sofa-bed that he was sleeping on. "But…where's my prize? My hotdog…You liar! You promised me a hotdog when I entered this martial arts tournament!" _

"_Please Zell, snap out of it! Or Catherine will kill me!" Selphie pleaded. _

_Hearing his friend's voice probably did snap him out of his dream. _

"_Selphie, its half past two in the morning. What could Catherine possibly want at half past two in the morning?" Zell said while rubbing his eyes. _

_Selphie's mouth dropped open. "Zell…" _

_Zell looked at her. "What Selphie?" _

"_Put on a shirt!" She yelped and pointed at his bare chest. _

_He looked down at his chest and smiled. "Aren't my muscles big enough?" He teased. _

_Selphie closed her eyes. "Seriously! Put a shirt on and meet me in Irvine's car," _

_Ten minutes later…_

"_Where's your house again?" Zell asked while driving and scanning the road. _

"_Nearby," Selphie whispered. _

"_Why does she want you back home now?" Zell asked. _

"_Probably to look after Nicole," She replied referring to her adorable half-sister. _

"_Can't she look after that baby on her own?" asked Zell with a puzzled look on his face. _

_Selphie made a face. "No shit she can't," _

_The car was awfully silent after that. _

"_Uh oh. Trouble standing right at my front door," Selphie muttered. _

_Zell looked. She was right. There was Catherine, Selphie's stepmother standing at the front door with a very annoyed look on her face. _

_Both Selphie and Zell stepped out of the car and walked up slowly and fearfully to the front door. _

"_Where the hell have you been Selphie Angelina Tilmitt? I thought I told you that you weren't allowed to stay at your little friends' house! It's a Friday and you're meant to be baby-sitting Nicole," Catherine spat with a look of pure venom on her face. _

"_You told me yourself last night that I could do whatever I please this Friday. I'm not Nicole's mother. You're her mother. I'm only her half-sister," Selphie snapped. _

"_Oh please Selphie sweetheart, I didn't say that. You know that I'm busy with my job and I can't look after little Nicole," _

_Zell watched them both argue. He felt like he shouldn't have been watching this, but he felt like he ought to stay until Selphie was safe in her home. _

"_Oh what job? Being a stripper? Prostitute? What the hell do you do for a living? Besides relying on my father, your husband for cash? I know that you have time to look after Nicole," Selphie replied frostily. _

_Catherine looked at Selphie with a look that would've easily killed Selphie if looks could kill. _

_And at that very moment, a little baby girl crawled out to the door and looked up at Selphie with a tear stricken face. _

_Selphie looked down at the baby and picked her up and carried her in her arms. "Oh Nicole, what happened sweetie?" She whispered. _

"_And you bring a boyfriend back too. What did you do to get him home with you? Paid him?" Catherine remarked while looking at Zell. _

"_Shut up Catherine! Shut up! You've done nothing good to me or Nicholas ever since you married Daddy! Go stuff your face into a toilet bowl, because that's where it belongs Catherine!" Selphie screeched. _

_Nicole looked at Zell who's face was as white as a sheet, to her half-sister's angry and frustrated face and finally to her mother's face which was full of hatred and poison. _

"_You…You ungrateful little brat," Catherine finally said. _

_Without a sound, she slapped Selphie's cheek. Really hard as well. Blood spluttered out of Selphie's nose and her face was now crimson red. _

_Selphie sank to her knees with Nicole still in her arms. Tears welled up in both Nicole and Selphie's brilliant emerald green eyes. _

_Zell looked at Catherine with sheer horror. He couldn't believe what he had witnessed. _

_Catherine was pretty shocked herself, as she turned around and stepped back inside her house. _

_Zell helped Selphie up. "Come on Selph, I'll take you back to Irvine's and we can put Nicole to bed and clean you up," _

_Selphie merely nodded. _

_End Flashback _

"Wow, this term ended fast," Irvine said cheerfully.

The six of them were walking out of the grounds of Balamb High and were ready to walk back home and sigh with relief because school had ended.

"Why are you two still so quiet?" Quistis asked.

Selphie and Zell looked at each other and smiled at Quistis.

Rinoa who was clinging onto Squall let go of his arm.

She hugged all of her friends. "This is the last time we'll see each other for a while," She said sadly.

"You should've told us sooner. Maybe then we could've planned a party," Selphie said.

"Rinoa, thanks for making Squall normal again, I'll miss you a lot," Zell whispered as she hugged him.

"You are one total lady. Oh and at your new school, if there are any pretty girls, tell them to ring my number," Irvine said with a wink.

"Irvine!" Rinoa exclaimed.

"I'm joking. But I'm not joking when I say I'll miss you," Irvine replied.

"We love you lots Rinoa! Don't forget us! And remember to get a guy to call Quistis for us!" Selphie called.

"Selphie! I don't need a guy to complete my life!" Quistis snapped.

The four of them walked home leaving Rinoa with just Squall.

"You've barely said anything all day. What's on your mind?" Rinoa asked while looking into his intense electric blue eyes.

"You leaving. How could you?" Squall said with a look of pain on his face.

"It might be better for me to get to know my father…It might seem like I'm betraying you, but I'm not. I'll always be yours," She said shyly.

He pulled her towards him and embraced her.

"Oh Squall, I'm sorry!" Rinoa said with tears spilling onto his shirt.

Squall looked down at her and smiled. "I…I guess it's alright Rinoa. If you're happy with…with your decision, then I'll support you on it…"

Rinoa kissed his cheek. "You sure?"

_Flashback _

"_What if I can't find you Squall?" Asked Rinoa with a look of worry on her face. _

_Squall sighed. "What about we make a promise then? I'll be waiting here. If you come here, you'll find me. I promise," _

_Rinoa looked at him with a tender smile. "That sounds so poetic Squall," _

_He took her hand into his. "It's our promise. Remember it Rinoa," _

"_Always," Rinoa replied with a smile._

_End Flashback _

"What about we make a promise then? I'll be waiting here, so if you come here, you'll find me…I promise," Squall said affectionately.

"How cute, Squally actually making promises," Rinoa said with a giggle.

"Rinoa," He said in a stern voice.

"Alright. I'll always remember it. I'll be waiting here, so if you come here, you'll find me…I promise," Rinoa repeated.

"Promise me?" Squall asked.

"Always. But I'll promise you," Rinoa said.

They kissed affectionately before finally parting. It'll always be goodbye, but never farewell.

As their hands parted, so did most of their shared memories. Even if they weren't going to spend that much time together, their love will always remain strong. Always and Forever…


	8. Dear Stepsister Part I

**Hatred to Love**

**Chapter 8 – Dear Stepsister Part I **

The rain on the outside showed what fifteen year old Rinoa Heartilly felt on the inside. Cold, lonely and very gloomy. She had finally moved into her father, General Caraway's mansion in Deling City. It was her home, before her parents had gotten a divorce and her mother, Julia Heartilly moved to Balamb and took Rinoa with her.

Rinoa rolled over on her queen sized canopy bed and stared out her window. The view was normally picture perfect, like it always was, but this morning, it was grey, cloudy and pouring heavily with rain. She yawned. She still wasn't used to living in her father's mansion yet. Although she knew the whole place like the back of her hand, she still wasn't used to living in it once again.

She sat up and looked around her bedroom. It was her bedroom until she had moved to Balamb with her mother. It was the only room that she actually felt safe and comfortable in. Every other room in the Caraway mansion was either too formal or made her feel unwelcome in.

_I might have only lived here in this…place for a week, but it feels like a year. I never knew that I'd miss Balamb, all my friends and Squall so much! I sort of regret deciding to move here to Deling now… _

Rinoa got off her bed and quickly made the sheets. In doing so, she also knocked several glass photo frames with pictures of her friends, Squall and her mother onto the marble floor.

As she knelt down to pick up the photo frames, her knees felt the coldness of the smooth white marbled floor. She shivered as she slowly and carefully picked up the delicate glass frames. Luckily, none of them had smashed into small fragments of glass.

She managed to smile a bit as she glimpsed at one of the photos that she was gently holding onto. It was the group photo, with Selphie, Quistis, Zell, Irvine and Squall. She remembered how hard it was just to get that photo. It was just last month, in March when they were on an excursion to Balamb's beaches for their Geography class. They were all allowed a lot of free time, so Selphie suggested a group photo to keep as a memory for when they were all grown up.

_Flashback _

"_What's wrong with taking a photo Squall? Everyone else agreed to it…" Selphie said with a small frown on her face. _

_Squall rolled his eyes. "I don't see the point in standing in front of an electronical device just to get a piece of paper with our images on it in return. Besides, I haven't taken a photo since last year," _

_Zell raised his eyebrows. "And back then, he still had that same blank expression on his face," _

_Squall glared at Zell. _

_Rinoa laughed. "Please, just one photo Squally? Do it for me," She pleaded while gazing into his electric blue eyes with her own brown ones. _

_Squall looked down at her with an emotionless, blank face. He took a deep breath and sighed. _

"_I hope that means a yes. Cos' dude, there's nothing wrong with taking a photo," Irvine said. _

_Quistis smiled at the whole scenery in front of her. She leaned down to let the crystal clear beach water cool her own warm hands. _

"_Quisty? Come join us for the photo," Rinoa called. _

_Quistis nodded an "I'll be there in just a second" and quickly got up and hurried over to where they were all gathered. _

"_Who's going to take the photo?" Quistis asked curiously while taking out her water bottle to drink. _

_Selphie smiled cheekily. "Yoo-hoo! Xu!" _

_Quistis almost spat out the water that she was drinking from her bottle. As she wiped it from her mouth she asked with shock, "You trust her!" _

_Zell, Irvine and Rinoa politely greeted Xu as she approached them. Squall on the other hand was playing the guy with the 'don't give a damn attitude'. _

"_I don't, but for now I do," Selphie replied stubbornly. _

_Zell placed a hand on Quistis' shoulder. "Who cares about who takes the photo? I know that Xu isn't your favourite person on the planet, because she wrote nasty things about you in the school newspaper, but all she's going to do is just take one photo," He whispered gently into her ear. _

_Quistis gave him a weak smile. Zell returned the smile. _

"_Ok, smile!" Xu said loudly. _

_Then the flash on Selphie's digital camera went off. _

_End Flashback _

Rinoa felt hot, wet tears trickle slowly down from her eyes. She remembered how much fun they had, but that was all in the past. She needed to concentrate on the present, otherwise it would distract her. She gently wiped away her tears using her pyjama sleeve.

_And after that, I dragged Squall off with me so we could sit down on the nice, warm sand alone and just talk about…everything. _

"Miss Caraway?" A voice interrupted Rinoa's thoughts.

Rinoa looked up to see who was speaking to her. It was one of the many maids that worked in her father's…wait, now her mansion.

"Good morning Evelyn. I do prefer you calling me just Rinoa though. Not Miss. Caraway," Rinoa said once she got up from where she was sitting.

Evelyn bowed. "I understand. I'll call you that from now on,"

Rinoa smiled kindly at the young woman. "What did you need Evie?"

"Your father wanted to talk to you in his office, after you have breakfast that is Rinoa," Evelyn said.

Rinoa raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Did he tell you why Evie?"

Evelyn shook her head. "No Rinoa. General Caraway didn't tell me why he wanted to talk to you in his office,"

Rinoa nodded. "Um, if that's it, would you mind to…um,"

Evelyn smiled at her. "I'll leave now for you to get changed Rinoa,"

With a last bow, she quietly left Rinoa's bedroom, closing the door behind her.

As Rinoa rummaged through her huge wardrobe (mainly filled with expensive designer outfits that her father had bought for her as gifts) for clothes to wear, she thought about what her father might want to talk to her about…

_Maybe he's finally going to announce that I'm going to meet Amber, the home wrecker and her stepdaughter, probably a self-centered, bitchy snob. Since Father is kind of well-known, maybe his so called new 'family' will be a feature article in some magazine. Oh joy. Or maybe he's going to say that some relatives from his side are coming to visit. I'd like to meet them though. _

Rinoa finally settled on wearing a pair of slim-fitting pale blue jeans and a woollen fluffy pink jumper. She walked over to where her make-up table was and reached for a hairbrush. She ran the brush through her hair a couple of times to make it smooth and straight again.

She curved her lips into a small smile as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She gently placed the hairbrush back onto her make-up table and walked out of her room, shutting the door behind her.

She made her way down the many stairs in her mansion (the house is five storeys high in this fanfic) and she sighed as she reached the bottom of the stairs and the bottom level of her mansion.

She slowly took a deep breath and gracefully made her way to the kitchen. Her breakfast was awaiting her.

* * *

"Did Rinoa move to Deling City to live with her father already?" Ellone asked when she and her younger half-brother Squall were in the Leonhart-Loire Mansion's kitchen washing up after breakfast.

Squall almost dropped the plate that he was drying. "Ellone, how did you know?"

Ellone smiled. "Rinoa's mother told Mum a while ago who told me,"

Squall continued to dry the plates and glass cups. "So basically you're saying that I was the last one to know?"

Ellone's eyes widened. "No, no Squall. Mum didn't want to tell you because she knew that Rinoa should be the one to tell you and not her. She wanted you to stay…well, happy,"

Squall stared at the black and white tiles of the kitchen. "Whatever Ellone," He said quietly and left the kitchen.

Ellone could only hope that what she said didn't hurt Squall deep inside. She didn't deliberately mean to tell him, but for some reason, she felt that it was right.

Squall quickly walked up the stairs leading to the first floor of his house and to his parents bedroom where they had gone to after they had finished breakfast.

He also passed his father on the way.

"Why good morning Squall. Did you enjoy the breakfast I made?" Laguna asked cheerfully.

Squall could only look at his father in an eccentric way. "Where's Mother?"

Laguna sighed. "Well, she took a nap. She's feeling rather ill right now, Squall, so she's resting in her bedroom,"

Just as Squall was about to enter his father and mother's bedroom, he felt someone pull his arm back.

"Squall, your mother's resting right now," Laguna said sharply.

Squall just simply ignored what his father said. "I need to discuss something with her!"

He snapped.

Then at that very moment, Raine Leonhart-Loire walked out to see what all the commotion was about. She was beautiful, but being sick, she looked tired, but nevertheless strikingly pretty.

"Why is there so much noise at this time in the morning?" Raine asked soothingly while glancing at both her husband and her teenage son.

Laguna and Squall stopped in their tracks to face Raine. They half expected her to be really frustrated and angry, but the look on her lovely, young face was kind, warm and caring. Like how she normally was regardless of her mood.

Laguna was about to speak, but Squall quickly cut him off. "Mother, why didn't you tell me that Rinoa was going to move to Deling when Julia told you?"

Raine looked at Laguna with an expression that read 'Did Ellone tell him?' and looked at Squall with a heartbreaking smile.

She walked over to a white stylish sofa that was situated in the hallway of the first floor and sat down. Squall looked at her and she nodded. Laguna knew that he wasn't needed so he left for mother and son to talk.

Raine coughed. "Squall…I know that you're mad at me right now…" She started.

Squall looked at her straight in the eye. "How could you? It would've been best off if you had told me when you found out from Rinoa's mother!"

Raine could only smile sadly in return. "Squall; there is a reason why I didn't tell you earlier,"

Squall, who was staring at the tiled floor, looked up at his mother's caring face.

"…"

Raine started to stroke Squall's smooth, silky dark brown hair. "How would you have reacted if I told you instead of Rinoa?"

Squall was silent. _Actually, I would've been angry! _

"I'd…I'd been really mad at everyone…and Rinoa. Maybe especially Rinoa for not telling me herself,"

Raine nodded. "That's exactly why I didn't want to tell you. I knew that it was best if Rinoa told you herself. You were so miserable after Adelina died. You lost the person that was not only the closest to you, but your best friend. I also knew that if I told you Squall, you might've acted that way as well. I was so hurt after that and you were too and I didn't want to experience that all over again darling,"

Squall looked at his loving mother with small tears in his electric blue eyes. "I'm sorry Mother," He whispered and hugged her.

Raine was shocked at her son's sudden affection, but was all the same happy.

* * *

"Thank you very much for breakfast," Rinoa said kindly to the cooks in the kitchen.

"That's alright Miss Caraway; you better not keep your father waiting now,"

_Heartilly! My last name is Heartilly! Not Caraway! I want you to either call me Miss Heartilly or just Rinoa! _Her mind screamed.

Rinoa then courteously excused herself and made her way to her father's office.

On her way, she admired beautiful paintings, portraits, decorative ornaments and other rare artefacts.

While she was walking and admiring things, she knocked into someone who apparently wasn't looking where they were going either.

"I'm so sorry!" She gasped and she offered her hand to help the other person up.

He looked up and gazed at her face in an amused way. "Is that all you can say?"

"When you _accidentally_ knock someone over, you offer them your hand and you apologise! You on the other hand should take my hand and say that it's alright! Not ask me if that's all I can say!" Rinoa snapped, not bothering to look at him to see who he was.

The young man quickly got up by himself. "Rinoa, don't you recognise me?"

Rinoa stopped in her tracks and looked at his face closely. "Nida!"

Nida chuckled softly and leaned over to embrace Rinoa. "What the hell are you doing in my house Nida?"

He let Rinoa out of his arms and gave her a hurt look. "What? Can't your first cousin visit you whenever he wants to?"

Rinoa's lovely brown eyes looked into his own piercing emerald green ones. "Well, maybe Nida. What are you doing here though?"

Nida scratched his head. "Your Aunt Sophia, my mother suggested I come over to see you and your father also invited me over as well,"

Then they both started walking towards Caraway's office together.

"Nida, why did my father invite you over?" Rinoa asked.

Nida looked down at her and grinned. "Dearest little cousin, you sure are full of questions today. Uncle Richard invited for some special occasion and he wants all his relatives including yours truly to come and celebrate with him. And he wants us to see you again,"

Rinoa looked puzzled at what he said. "What's the occasion?"

Nida smiled. "Didn't Uncle Richard tell you? Anyways, it'd be best off if he told you himself,"

_Tell me what? _Rinoa thought.

"Good morning Rinoa! Welcome Nida," Richard Caraway said once they were in his office.

"Hello Uncle Richard. Thank you for having me here," Nida said politely as he leaned over to shake his Uncle's hand.

"Good morning Father," Rinoa finally said.

"Have a seat you two," Richard said and he gestured to the two black leather armchairs situated in front of his table.

Rinoa hastily sat down on one while Nida sat down on the one next to her.

"As you can see Rinoa, your first cousin Nida is here," Richard started.

_I can see that. I'm not that slow Father, _Rinoa thought.

"I've invited all of your relatives on my side of the family to come here to our house so that they can meet my fiancée and her daughter. I want the family to get to know Amber and her daughter as soon as possible," Richard continued.

When her father wasn't looking, Rinoa rolled her eyes. _How on earth did I know? I guessed both of them right, _She thought sarcastically.

"And most of them should be arriving between this afternoon and tomorrow morning," Richard said.

Nida smiled. Rinoa didn't know whether to be excited about her relatives visiting or miserable because she was going to meet Amber and her daughter.

"So, is there going to be a big party or what?" Rinoa asked.

Richard and Nida smiled. "Of course there is! A dinner party tonight and a little vacation at our Esthar summer house tomorrow for two nights and three days," Richard replied.

"Rinoa, dear, you look troubled. Is there something that I haven't explained?" Richard asked in a fatherly way.

Just as Rinoa was about to open her mouth to speak, she was cut off by a loud noise.

Richard, Rinoa and Nida quickly got up out of their seats and peered out the door to see what had caused the commotion.

"Don't tell me what I can or cannot do! I may be elderly, but that doesn't mean I need an entire entourage escorting me at all places!" A shrill voice snapped.

"Oh Hyne no," Nida muttered.

Richard placed a hand over his mouth, too shocked to say anything. Rinoa was baffled by the whole scenery.

"Richard, I thought I told you not to send escorts to pick me up in Timber! Just because your father was sick, does not mean I cannot drive here on my own!" She screeched.

Richard remained silent.

"Nida! How are you my dearest grandson?" The woman said grabbing Nida by the arm and pulling him into a tight embrace.

"I'm…I'm fine," Nida said gasping for air.

_Grandson…? Then that must make her my…_

"Rinoa! My darling granddaughter, how you've grown up so beautiful. You look just like your lovely mother. I haven't seen you since you were 11 tears old," The woman said with a beam.

The woman let go of Nida and embraced Rinoa.

"Grandma….Caraway?" Rinoa said confusedly.

"Dear, don't call me that. That makes me feel so old. Call me Grandma Elle," She said.

Then she stopped in her own tracks. "Richard!" She shrieked.

Richard, who had just sat down on his chair, almost fell out of it, thanks to his mother's sudden outburst.

"Yes…yes Mother?" He said shakily.

"Just what have you done to Rinoa to make her forget me?" She barked.

"Nothing…nothing Mother," Richard replied uneasily.

"Grandma, I thought that you wouldn't be here until tomorrow," Nida said.

Richard had left the room by then, so the three of them sat down on a sofa.

"Silly child, no one can tell me when I can or cannot come," She said.

Rinoa smiled. _Hard to believe that this woman raised my father.

* * *

_

"Thanks Zell," Selphie said.

Zell blushed. "You're welcome Selphie, besides I just adore little Nicole," He said and picked up the blonde toddler and tickled her.

The two of them were taking a walk in a local Balamb Park with Selphie's little half-sister. It was only 9pm in the morning, but it looked like the afternoon. It wasn't raining in Balamb, just very cloudy.

Nicole smiled sweetly at Zell and Selphie.

"Selphie, seriously, tell someone about Catherine," Zell said with a worried look on his face.

Selphie's eyes suddenly saddened. "Zell, no one would listen. Catherine is this, Catherine is that, Catherine is a loving and doting stepmother to you. Everyone thinks she's this perfect woman who wouldn't dare hurt a baby or her own stepdaughter,"

Zell exhaled. "Selphie, I saw what she was like. She bloody abused you! You have to speak out before she hurts you even more!"

Selphie suddenly fell to her knees and let all her tears flow out of her emerald green eyes.

"Zell, you're the only one that I can trust. Please don't tell anyone! Not even Irvine, Quistis or Squall. I can handle this on my own!" She choked.

Zell took out a packet of tissues from his pocket and offered one to Selphie.

"Big sister, don't cry," Nicole said in unclear manner.

Selphie looked at Nicole. Selphie took her out of Zell's strong arms and hugged her tight.

"I love you Nicole. It's hard to believe that you're Catherine's own daughter when you look nothing like her," Selphie whispered softly in the toddler's ear.

Zell placed an arm around Selphie's slender shoulders and helped her up.

"Come on Selphie, you can come back to my house now," Zell said.

Selphie looked up at Zell gratefully and smiled. "Yeah,"

So Zell and Selphie with Nicole in her arms walked back to Zell's house.

* * *

"Grandma Elle, what do you think of Father marrying Amber?" Rinoa asked as she was sitting on her bed in her room while her Grandma was brushing her hair.

Elle snorted. "I think it's ridiculous. Besides Richard should've let me and your Grandfather meet her first before whisking her off and proposing to her. But as always, he doesn't listen to what I have to say,"

"Your hair is so smooth darling. I used to love brushing your hair when you were a little girl," Elle said gently.

Rinoa smiled. "Thanks Grandma Elle,"

Rinoa stood up and modelled her outfit for her Grandma. It was a light blue dress that had no straps and fell just above her knees. Her matching heels made her creamy white legs look even longer than usual.

"Very pretty dear and appropriate for this occasion. It makes you look just like a teen model," Elle said.

Rinoa walked over and stood by her window. "The rain has eased," She said pointing to the sky.

"You know what Nida? Amber must love being fashionably late," Rinoa whispered.

Nida laughed. "It's good hanging out with family again, isn't it?"

Rinoa smirked. "Yeah, but its not good hanging with you again,"

Just as Nida was about to snap back teasingly at Rinoa, he was called off by someone to help out in the dining room.

Rinoa sat alone on the stairs, wondering when Amber and her daughter would arrive.

Then the doorbell rang. It disrupted her thoughts but she was ecstatic.

She carefully got up and walked over to the front door. She unlocked it and opened it.

There was a girl standing there in a knee-length candy pink halter neck dress and Rinoa was pretty sure that that was Amber's daughter. She couldn't help but feel that she had seen this girl before.

"Mum! Hurry up!" The girl called out,

"Can I help you?" Rinoa asked.

The blonde girl turned around and smirked. "Sure you can help me…_Rinoa_,"

Rinoa was astounded. The blonde girl was none other than _Mandy. _

"You must be at the wrong place _Mandy_, because you weren't invited here. Now if you excuse me, I'd like to shut the door," Rinoa said grouchily.

Then Nida and Richard appeared behind Rinoa to see what all the fuss was about.

"Wow, Mandy's going to be my step cousin!" Nida commented playfully.

Rinoa glowered at him and elbowed him in the stomach. _She might be your step cousin, but that…that bitch could be my stepsister! _

"Mandy, dear! What took you and your mother so long to arrive?" Richard said and leaned over to kiss Mandy on the cheek.

Rinoa looked horrified.

"My mother and I apologise to keeping you and your family waiting so long, but you do know that at night, there is a lot of traffic," Mandy said sweetly.

"Rinoa and Nida, do you know who this girl is?" Richard asked pointing to the now smirking Mandy.

Rinoa rolled her eyes and Nida forced a smile.

"She's Amber's daughter, big deal," Rinoa muttered.

"I'm going to be your stepsister Rinoa and your step cousin Nida," Mandy said in a phoney high-pitched voice with a sickingly sweet smile on her face.

Richard gave the three of them a smile before disappearing back into the house.

"I see that I'm not needed here, so I'll go," Nida murmured and he quickly left.

"You're going to be my stepsister!" Rinoa spat once Nida left.

Mandy toyed with her blonde hair and smiled at the fuming Rinoa. "It's a small world Rinoa,"

Mandy brushed past Rinoa and whispered into her ear. "Hell yeah I'm going to be your stepsister. And I expect you to be nice and polite to me tonight as well,"

"And what makes you think I will be?" Rinoa shot back.

Mandy smirked. "Well, there is always a little white lie to tell,"

Rinoa looked at her in the eye. "You wouldn't dare,"

Mandy shrugged. "I'm capable of absolutely _anything_,"

And then Mandy walked inside and greeted some of Rinoa's relatives. Rinoa was still a little shaken after that. She was breathing heavily. She looked up into the night sky and held on tight to her necklace. And she let one single tear drip from her eye.


	9. Dear Stepsister Part II

**Hatred to Love **

**Chapter 9 – Dear Stepsister Part II **

"Welcome to the Caraway family Mandy and Amber!" Rinoa's Aunt Sophia said warmly as she hugged the two of them.

Rinoa could only roll her eyes as she witnessed the entire scene. _Am I the only one that can actually see that Mandy's a fake? And also with Amber? Like Mother, like Daughter. _

Amber and Mandy were mingling with the Caraway family in the banquet room and so far most of Rinoa's relatives were charmed by their charisma and their well-mannered behavior. Very suitable for the Caraway family as they were always of a high class and standard.

"Rinoa, darling! Come over here!" Her Aunt Sophia called out.

Rinoa smiled sweetly at her aunt and obediently strolled over to where Sophia, Mandy and Amber were chatting and laughing amongst each other.

"Rinoa, since your father is busy with some last minute preparations for the dinner party, I'll do all the formal introductions," Sophia said with a beautiful smile on her warm face.

Rinoa sipped some more iced Sprite from her glass.

"This is Amber, your soon to be stepmother. She is a fantastic woman and I think you will be delighted that she is going to be a part of your life," Sophia continued on.

_Then why don't _you _become her stepdaughter then if you think she's all that? _

Rinoa rapidly forced a tight-lipped smile onto her face as Amber leaned over to embrace her tightly.

"I can't wait to get to know Richard's beautiful daughter. I hope that you will accept me as your stepmother sweetie," Amber announced with a teary smile on her lovely young face.

It was then that Rinoa kind of regretted all the nasty things she thought about Amber. _But that doesn't mean I can't be cautious. She might be a loving person when other people are around, but she could be the evil stepmother of all time when I'm alone with her. _

"And I think you've already met my precious only daughter Mandy. She did say that you used to attend Balamb High with her," Amber said softly and gesturing to the now gently smiling Mandy.

Rinoa looked over her shoulder. "Yeah, we've met before at school," Rinoa remarked coldly.

The joyful smile on Amber's face quickly disappeared, as did Sophia's. Mandy looked from Rinoa's irritable looking face to her mother and Rinoa's Aunt Sophia's stunned expressions. She had to act fast so she quickly slipped her arm through Rinoa's own, causing Rinoa to almost choke.

"Mother, Rinoa is probably feeling a little unsettled tonight. I mean, she just had to move from Balamb to here and she has to meet us. She might be a little uncomfortable right now," Mandy explained with a glittering smile that showed all of her straight white teeth.

Rinoa turned silent. Sophia and Amber's faces turned from stunned to normal again.

"Why didn't you tell us Rinoa dear?" Sophia asked in a motherly way.

Rinoa's rage was building up. She couldn't take it anymore. So she struggled to get Mandy's arm off of hers and she walked off sulking to Nida leaving Mandy, Amber and Aunt Sophia behind speechless.

"I'm not sure what's gotten into Rinoa. She was content and smiling when I arrived here this afternoon," Sophia quickly apologised.

Mandy shot a deadly smile to Rinoa after she had dragged Nida into a corner on the other side of the room.

"It's alright Sophia, no need to apologise. All of this must be very hard on Rinoa after all," Amber said with a cheerless smile.

"Mother, she probably _does_ need time to get used to all of this," Mandy said thoughtfully as she was tugging onto her delicate silver chain necklace.

_Actually, I'm going to be the one who needs time to get used to all this. After all, I'm going to be General Caraway's stepdaughter. I have a couple more tricks to pull on Rinoa. Then she'll accept me as a stepsister and then I'll toy with her again until she has no choice but to finally give up! _Mandy thought.

"Would you like to sample this Mandy?" Sophia asked offering Mandy a cocktail snack.

Mandy smiled her 'for adults only' smile at her. "I'd love to…Auntie Sophia,"

Sophia beamed at her. "I hope you're as lovely as Rinoa dear," She whispered causing Mandy to almost spit out the cocktail snack.

"Auntie Sophia, Rinoa doesn't normally walk off when company comes over does she?" Mandy asked gazing around the room after she had consumed the cocktail.

Sophia shook her head. "No dear, she's normally very warm, polite and certainly _not _like she was before,"

Mandy looked down at the tiled floor. "I think it's because Rinoa hates me. I don't know why, but she was always talking about me when we went to school together. She did everything she could to make me look like the mean girl. Rinoa almost slapped me one time," Mandy said almost whispering.

Sophia placed a hand over her mouth. "That doesn't seem like Rinoa at all!"

Mandy slowly shook her head. "It's like she has two different personalities, but its true though Auntie Sophia," She smiled triumphantly to herself as Sophia gave her a sympathetic hug.

_As promised Rinoa, there _is _always a little white lie to tell.

* * *

_

"What's wrong now little cousin?" Nida asked in an exasperated tone.

Rinoa bit her bottom lip. What on earth was she going to tell Nida? There was too much on her mind and the only person that would actually listen to her without making that much of a big deal at the moment was Nida.

"Oh, so it doesn't bother you that Mandy is sucking up to your mother?" Rinoa snapped furiously.

Nida was taken back. Normally, Rinoa wasn't this bad-tempered. But probably with the turn of events, she had little choice but to be grumpy about everything that was happening right now.

Nida watched Mandy now keenly listen to what his mother was saying with interest. He rolled his eyes. His mother loved to yap about anything and everything. To him, you'd have to be very easygoing and polite to listen to what Sophia Caraway had to say!

"I can't believe what she'd do just to be accepted into our family!" Nida hissed.

Rinoa gazed around the whole banquet room. Sophia and Mandy were chatting or rather Sophia was doing all the talking and Mandy was pretending to courteously listen, Amber was socializing with Rinoa's other relatives and the rest of Rinoa's relatives were talking amongst each other.

Rinoa smirked. "I know. But soon, she'll be exposed as the faker she is. Nida, you do know what she's done to me, right?"

Nida looked down at Rinoa and smiled feebly at her. "Yeah, I've heard about it, but I've never actually witnessed it or anything Rinny,"

Rinoa gave him a mischievous smile. "Want to expose Mandy?" She asked softly, but before Nida could answer, she quickly whispered her plan to him.

"It's good to finally get to meet you Elle!" Amber said uneasily as she greeted her fiancé's mother.

Elle turned away from her conversation and glimpsed at Amber. Elle didn't want to be the evil in-law, but she wasn't going to be the loving 'I'll accept you as my daughter-in-law right away' type of person either.

"You're Amber, right?" Elle asked eyeing her distrustfully as Amber was nervously running a hand through her light chestnut brown hair.

Amber nodded. She had to admit though; she was a bit afraid of meeting Richard's mother. But she wanted Richard's parents blessing after all. From what Amber had heard from Richard, his father was a good-hearted man unlike his wife. But he was unable to come that evening.

"Good, Amber's distracted by Grandma Elle. I need to get Mother distracted now as well," Nida muttered to Rinoa.

Rinoa knew that everyone in the banquet room at this moment was deeply absorbed in something and they wouldn't realise that something happened unless he or she shrieked loudly or there was a loud noise.

Rinoa casually walked over to the refreshment table where Mandy was now standing awkwardly on her own; Nida had somehow convinced his mother to talk to his other relatives and not just Mandy. Rinoa filled another glass up with Sprite and turned around to talk to Mandy.

"What the hell was with you before?" Mandy asked coolly as Rinoa walked up to her.

Rinoa smiled sincerely at her. "Oh you know me Mandy. I detest being around fake people like you,"

Mandy's fake sweet smile then turned sour. "Like it or not Rinoa, I'm going to be your stepsister and your father's stepdaughter and I'll be taking so much more than just residence in your charming mansion,"

Rinoa couldn't resist but roll her eyes. "Wow, I'm scared," She responded sarcastically.

The colour from Mandy's face drained. She then remembered what she should be doing. And that was to be a generous, loving and caring stepsister on the outside, but an evil, back-stabbing, stepsister on the inside. She had to make Rinoa like her; otherwise her plan wouldn't work at all. She had to bite her tongue to stop any more smart mouth insults coming out of her mouth.

"What's with _you_ now?" Rinoa asked dryly, looking at her now slightly pale face.

Mandy was going to snap back at Rinoa, but she had to keep a civil tongue. "I was just feeling a little uneasy, that's all Rinoa," Mandy quickly replied.

Rinoa stared in disbelief at her. _Like I'm going to bother to listen to that yet alone believe it anyway…_

Mandy turned around and waved at some of Rinoa's relatives and Rinoa hastily took advantage of that. She pretended to stumble over something and then spilt her drink all over the back of Mandy's dress. Rinoa walked away from Mandy with pleasure.

Mandy felt something wet on her dress and looked down to see it. It was a big wet patch on the back of her expensive designer candy pink halter dress courtesy of Rinoa Heartilly. But she didn't know that. She looked up ready to yell at the person who spilt it onto her dress, but there was no one there.

Mandy had to plaster fake smiles on her face at the people who were giving her warm, friendly smiles.

_I'll bet 100 Gil, that Rinoa did that. But where the hell is she! _Mandy thought furiously as she was scanning the whole room for a certain raven haired girl. But Rinoa Heartilly was no where to be seen.

Rinoa already made her way from where she was standing with Mandy and when Nida caught sight of her, she flashed him a smile of satisfaction. Nida returned the smile.

When she reached him, he hugged her tightly. "That's going to be your birthday present Rinoa! But I will participate in any future anti-Mandy plans of yours," Nida said teasingly while ruffling her hair.

Rinoa laughed. "But here comes trouble…" She hastily murmured to him.

Nida let go of Rinoa and the both of them were watching Mandy (who was now looking rather pink again) slowly make her way to them, anger burning in her light hazel eyes.

"You! I want a word with you!" Mandy said heatedly and pointing to Rinoa.

Nida moved over for Mandy who was ready to kill. He smirked at her. "I like the mixture of candy pink and…what's the other colour?" He asked pretending to peer at the spot where Rinoa had 'accidentally' spilt her drink.

Mandy shot him a deadly look. "Shut up you!"

Just as Mandy was ready to shriek at Rinoa and give her a piece of her mind, a servant had come out and announced that dinner would now be served.

Mandy then glowered at Rinoa, but didn't say anything to her.

Rinoa gave her a smirk before running up to walk with Nida.

"She'll probably want insurance as well Rinoa," Nida whispered with a snigger.

* * *

"Feeling any better Mother?" Squall asked Raine as he came into her room to see how she was.

Raine smiled as she got up from her bed. "Much better than I was this morning Squall,"

Squall sat on her bed and sighed. "Mother…Father wanted to talk to the three of us, since Ellone is at her friend's house again,"

Raine looked at him and asked him, "Squall are you alright?"

Squall looked astonished. "…"

Raine gave him another warm smile. "I know that you'll miss Rinoa very much dear, but Deling isn't that far from Esthar and…"

Squall cut her off. "No, it's not about Rinoa at all,"

"Raine, darling is there anything else you want to eat?" Laguna asked her as he entered the room.

Raine coughed. "No Laguna,"

Laguna sat near his wife and stroked her hair. "You got me so worried Raine. Please get better soon honey," He whispered before kissing her forehead affectionately.

Squall, not wanting to observe this any longer, cleared his throat.

Laguna and Raine both smiled as they caught sight of their son waiting impatiently for them.

"Father, Mother, I feel a bit tired now, so I'm going to bed," Squall said shortly and left the room.

"And to think that he'd want to stay back for me to tell him that Rinoa will be in Esthar tomorrow," Laguna said with a warm smile.

Raine looked up at her husband in surprise. "What do you mean Laguna?" She said referring to what he just said.

Laguna chuckled softly. "Richard is taking Amber, her daughter, Rinoa and some of Rinoa's relatives to Esthar for a family vacation for a couple of days. Richard invited us to meet his family tomorrow night,"

Raine curved her lips into a small smile. "Squall would be pleased to see Rinoa again. Should we tell him?"

Laguna shook his head. "Telling him would take all the fun out of it Raine. We should just let Rinoa tell him, if she's planning to,"

Laguna hugged Raine and a single tear fell down from her eye and splashed onto Laguna's crisp, clean shirt.

_My three beautiful children. Ellone, Squall and Adelina. I miss you so much Adelina! I know that the angels are looking after you and you're always going to be watching over us…_

She peered over Laguna's shoulder and looked at a photo frame with a photo of her three children; Ellone, Squall and Adelina. She smiled miserably at the sight of it.

* * *

The darkness in Squall's bedroom never really bothered him that much. In fact, he liked it. He didn't bother to pull the curtains over his windows, so the moonlight shone vibrantly into his bedroom.

He lay down on his back on his bed. He sighed deeply. All sorts of emotions and thoughts ran through his mind at once. It badly hurt his head.

_Flashback _

"_No girl's ever going to replace Rinoa, am I correct Squall?" Mandy asked tearfully. _

_Squall didn't respond. He just simply ignored Mandy. _

"_Squall, I'm right aren't I? No one is of a high standard, like darling Rinoa," Mandy said quietly. _

"_Mandy, why can't you understand that I don't want a girlfriend right now?" Squall asked grimly. _

_Mandy's striking light hazel eyes searched his own electric blue ones. _

_Slowly, tears dripped down from Mandy's eyes. She leaned over and hugged Squall closely. Squall had no idea what to do. But he didn't hug her back. _

"_Please, please Squall. I know that I was your pillar of support after the accident, but why won't you give me a chance and date me?" Mandy asked looking up at him with more tears forming in her eyes. _

_Squall grunted. "You're right. But no one will ever replace Rinoa. Why don't you date someone else?" _

_Mandy shook her head. "Because Squall…I want you. Call me crazy, but when I helped you out, I…fell in love with you as well…" _

_Squall looked down at her. In many ways, Mandy reminded him of Rinoa. Her playfulness, her stubborn personality, everything. Even the way she spoke, she could easily be mistaken for Rinoa, because of her high, soft, gentle voice. _

"_I'm…not ready," He said and walked away without saying another word. _

_End Flashback _

Squall closed his eyes. _Out of all of my memories, why did I have to remember that one? It was the first time after the accident that I felt…normal. Mandy did support me after it…but it was… too soon. I wasn't over Rinoa yet. And yet, she patiently waited for me. She was exactly like Rinoa. That was probably the only reason that I…I had a liking for her. But now, look where she is. She's the school slut.

* * *

_

Rinoa couldn't stop laughing. The whole dinner party was a disaster! Or so she thought.

She was brushing her hair and walking around her room in her pyjama bottoms and a warm, cotton candy pink short-sleeved shirt. She knew that it was disrespectful to continue laughing, but she couldn't help herself at all.

Firstly, when they got into the dining room, Mandy sat firmly down on her seat and refused to get up, in case she accidentally showed anyone the wet patch that was on her dress. Amber kept on eyeing Mandy strangely throughout the whole dinner. Rinoa almost had to stuff her napkin in her mouth to stop any laughter from coming out.

Secondly, Rinoa and Mandy refused to talk to each other for various reasons. They both avoided eye contact and only spoke to each other if it was necessary. Mandy kept on trying to start a conversation with her, but Rinoa more or less ignored her when no one else was looking for obvious reasons.

She smiled one more time before tying her long raven hair up into a ponytail.

She plopped down on her bed and stared at her phone. _Should I call Squall or any one of my friends? I miss them so much right now! _

"Are you going to make me wait here or what?" A sarcastic voice asked.

Rinoa snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at the intruder. It was Mandy. Out of all the people in her household right now, Mandy had to be the one that decided to visit Rinoa before going to bed.

"What do you want?" Rinoa asked serenely as she fiddled with her silver charm bracelet that she was wearing on her wrist.

Mandy observed Rinoa's whole bedroom before sitting down on Rinoa's bed right next to her.

"I…I just want to apologise for being mean and really bitchy to you," Mandy responded softly.

Rinoa couldn't believe her own ears. _Apologise? APOLOGISE! Mandy Portman wants to apologise to me! She must be on drugs or something. Or she must want something. _

"Mandy, spit it out already! What do you want?" Rinoa asked frostily.

Mandy looked shocked. "All I want to do is apologise for being mean and all that. I just don't want any ill feeling between the both of us…seeing as we will be living under the same roof pretty soon,"

_Are you kidding me Mandy? There's nothing _but_ ill feeling between the both of us…_

"I know that I must've been a real mean girl spreading rumors about you and I'm really, really sorry for that Rinny. I was blinded by my feelings for Squall and jealousy because you're with the one that I love the most…I mean, if a boyfriend left you, what would you do?" Mandy went on.

Rinoa rolled her eyes when Mandy was admiring some of Rinoa's eye catching jewellery that was lying on her make-up table. "I'd somehow get over him, what else?" But Mandy probably chose to ignore that or simply didn't hear Rinoa.

Mandy leaned over and embraced Rinoa. "I'm…I'm really sorry dear sister…please forgive me,"

Rinoa didn't know whether to punch the girl in the face or pretend to accept her so called apology.

Rinoa took a deep breath and regretted the words that slowly and quietly came out of her mouth. "Mandy…I…I…I forgive you,"

Mandy looked up at Rinoa, scanning her face for any traces of lying. But her face was sincere, like it mostly always was.

_But that doesn't mean I won't be on my guard Mandy Portman! I know you well and you usually don't give up without a fight. What's with the change of heart? _

Mandy ended the embrace with a whisper of "Good night dear sister" before quietly leaving Rinoa's bedroom and shutting the door behind her.

Rinoa was almost flabbergasted. She didn't want to be called anyone's sister or have to call anyone a sister. She had longed for a younger brother or sister when she was younger, but that was all in the past. She was terrified of having to call Mandy Portman a sister.

Mandy stood outside of Rinoa's bedroom, leaning against the door. _I hope that my dearest sister doesn't think that I'll always be sugary sweet. In fact, I'll be even worse than that! And tomorrow, I get to watch a tear-jerking reunion between dear sister and dear sister's hot boyfriend. _Mandy giggled. _I'm so going to enjoy the time I have tormenting you Rinoa. _Mandy thought as she trailed off to her new bedroom down the hallway.

* * *

"I never knew that Esthar could be so picturesque!" Mandy cried out.

Rinoa couldn't resist but roll her eyes. She was stuck in a car ride to Esthar for a family vacation with Mandy. She wanted to sit with Nida, but Mandy, Amber and her own father insisted that she sit with Mandy so they could catch up with each other. Rinoa had tried to protest, but with a stern look from her father, she had no choice but to sit with Mandy.

"Squall lives right here in Esthar, doesn't he?" asked Mandy suddenly.

Rinoa leaned up and sighed. "Yes he does," She said through clenched teeth.

Mandy smiled gloomily as she continued to admire Esthar's beautiful landscape.

Rinoa observed her suspiciously. _Is she just trying to make me feel guilty about having Squall as my boyfriend? _

"What's wrong dearest sister?" asked Mandy sweetly as she caught sight of her.

"I just feel tired," Rinoa responded curtly.

"Oh," Mandy turned away from Rinoa and continued on admiring the view.

Rinoa was now lost in her own thoughts. Not only was she tired from not getting enough sleep last night, but she had a sinking feeling that this holiday would not go well.

Rinoa then peered out the window. This was the exact same view she had seen, when she was riding with Squall in his limousine. She smiled sorrowfully at the thought of Squall.

_But I probably won't get to see him on this holiday. I'll be too busy with the family and Mandy to get to see him or even visit him at all. _

Squall was walking along a main road of Esthar on his own. He would've preferred to stay home, but his Mother had insisted that a breath of fresh air would be good for him and he had to pick up something from a store as well.

He sighed heavily as he saw some girls around his age giggle and point at him.

Squall hated this type of attention that was thrown at him whenever he was seen; he'd rather remain anonymous than be publicized, but as he was President Laguna Loire's son, his face often appeared in magazines and newspapers.

"We're finally at Esthar!" Richard Caraway announced with a cheerful smile as the five of them got out of the cars and into the driveway of Richard's exquisite Esthar home.

_Where else would we be? _Rinoa thought.

"Richard, Nida and I will stay at our house to unpack everything and Rinoa and Mandy can walk around the city for a bit of sight-seeing. Is that alright?" Amber asked.

"Actually Amber, I thought that I could -," Rinoa started, but her father cut her off.

"Rinoa sweetie, surely you can cancel whatever plans you have and take Mandy around the city with you?" Richard interrupted as he unloaded several suitcases from the car.

Mandy couldn't help but smile brightly at Richard. Nida caught sight of this and gave her a look of utter disgust.

"Thank you Father," said Mandy sweetly.

Richard chuckled as he patted her head. "Soon to be, but I'm sure we'll be as close as a real father and daughter,"

Rinoa couldn't hide her own looks of pure hatred either as she stalked off onto the footpath, making her way into the city.

"Rinoa! Wait up!" called out Mandy as she hurriedly tried to follow her. But it was impossible with her knee high boots.

Squall continued to browse along the stores of Esthar's main road. _Where was that shop? I swore that I saw it here the last time I visited. _

_There it is…_

Squall stood in front of Esthar's most expensive jewellery store "Crystal Petals". They had the most beautiful bracelets, necklaces, rings and anklets mainly made out of crystals and other precious and rare gemstones. Several weeks ago, Squall had ordered something and it was meant to come in today.

Rinoa had made it to Esthar's main road where most of the stores were situated. She looked around and she sighed with relied as she didn't see any blonde haired girl wearing a tight, long sleeved black top that emphasized her chest with a tight, a leather black mini skirt that could easily be mistaken for a belt and knee high boots.

Rinoa walked across the road and immediately stopped in her tracks as she caught sight of a tall, hot looking boy with dark brown hair. _It couldn't be…_

It was Squall Leonhart.

_I'm going to kill Rinoa when I find her, _Mandy said to herself. _How DARE she let me get lost in Esthar? She is taking this way too far now. _

Mandy suddenly stopped as she saw a guy that looked strangely a lot like Squall.

She pinched herself. _That is Squall. He looks even hotter than the last time I laid my eyes on him. _

Mandy was about to calmly wander over to her ex-boyfriend and casually flirt with him, but then she caught sight of her dear soon to be stepsister Rinoa, trying to make her own way to him.

Fire burned in Mandy's hazel eyes. _Why does she always take what's mine! _She wanted to scream.

"Squall…Squall?" Rinoa called out from the crowd.

The brown haired guy turned around and looked at her with a surprised look on his handsome face.

_Rinoa…_

_Squall…_

Rinoa made her way to where Squall was standing and ran straight into his open arms.

"Rinoa," He softly murmured into her ear.

She dug her face deeper and deeper into his chest. "Squall…I missed you so much…"

Mandy hid behind a store and smirked as she twirled strands of her long blonde hair. _Too bad that moment won't last forever. Pretty soon it'll be me in Squall's arms and Rinoa as the onlooker. I honestly can't wait for that day to arrive! _


	10. Hate it or Love it

**Hatred to Love **

**A/N: **Hey everyone and welcome to another chapter of Hatred to Love! I don't really know what to say now, except that this chapter might not be interesting, but the intriguing parts are coming up soon! I'll try to update as fast as I can, but I can't promise quickie updates. Sorry! Before you start reading, I want to thank Sammie and LadyComplicated. And thanks for telling me General Caraway's real name Lil Doro. Enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 10 – Hate it or Love it **

Julia Heartilly gazed longingly at the view outside. She was in her chauffeured car, on her way to Esthar for a meeting about the upcoming Music Video Awards to be held in Esthar in a couple of month's time. Normally, she'd get her reps to appear at meetings, but this time, she wanted to attend the meeting herself as well as getting a peaceful retreat in Esthar.

"So Julia, have you decided which song on your new album that you're going to perform at the Awards?" asked her assistant, Michelle.

Julia shook her head, her medium length dark brown hair swaying along as well. "Not yet Michelle, but I was thinking either 'We Belong Together' or 'Hard for Me'. They're my favourites off my new album,"

Michelle gave her a warm smile. "How's Rinoa doing?"

"I only just shipped her off to the Caraway House of Doom. I kid, but I think she's fine living with under the same roof as her father, Amber and her daughter," replied Julia inaudibly.

Michelle nodded. "How long do you actually intend to stay here in Esthar Julia?"

Julia sighed. "Around 3 to 5 days Michelle, no longer than that,"

Michelle slightly nodded again, so Julia resumed back to staring out the window and admiring the incredible views around her.

Julia opened her handbag which was sitting right beside her and pulled out her mobile phone. She was about to dial Rinoa's mobile number, but decided against it and slowly placed it back into her handbag.

_Oh Rinoa, I hope you're alright darling. I hope that Amber's not bribing you with anything to accept her as your stepmother.

* * *

_

After Squall had let Rinoa out of his arms, he couldn't help but ask her, "Rinoa what are you doing here in Esthar?"

Rinoa smiled contentedly at him. "Aren't you happy to see me once again Squall?"

Squall and Rinoa then started walking down the street together with Rinoa holding onto Squall's hand.

"I'm happy to see you, but did you run away from home?" He asked her seriously, a frown crossing his brow.

Rinoa burst out laughing. "No way Squall! Let's just say that my father brought Amber, her daughter, cousin Nida and I are here to Esthar for a family vacation,"

She didn't want to tell Squall that her stepsister (rather Amber's daughter) was actually Mandy, his ex-girlfriend. Rinoa knew that this wasn't exactly the right moment to tell him anyway. She wanted to break the ice to him when it felt right.

His face relaxed. "Do you think you can take time off from your family and spend it with me?" asked Squall gently.

Rinoa's lips formed a small, delighted smile. "I'm not sure Squally; I'll have to ask my father,"

Carefully following them from behind was Mandy. She smirked at what her stepsister had just said. _That gives me a good idea…_And then, she turned around and walked off in the opposite direction.

"Besides Squally, what are you doing out here on your own?" Rinoa asked coyly.

Squall turned around and briefly glanced at "Crystal Petals" and curved his lips into a half-smile. "Just taking a walk. Why?"

Squall could've sworn that he saw Rinoa's face look a bit disappointed, but she couldn't have known about him visiting a jewellery store, now could she?

"No reason," responded Rinoa quickly.

"Rinoa, you're still going to that school aren't you?" asked Squall quietly.

Rinoa closed her eyes and after a while, slowly opened them. "Yes Squall. I am,"

The pair then continued to walk past stores in silence. Neither knowing what to say to the other.

"Where are we going?" asked Rinoa after the long period of silence.

Squall looked ahead of him and shrugged. "Anywhere you want, I guess…"

Rinoa smiled apologetically at him before dragging him the other way and turning into a store she liked to visit whenever she visited Esthar.

Squall's eyes broadened as he saw where she was leading him to. _Oh no…Rinoa…_

Rinoa was leading him inside 'Crystal Petals' where he was meant to be heading earlier until he met Rinoa.

_I hope that the shop assistant doesn't tell Rinoa that the gift that I was meant to be picking up today was actually _for_ Rinoa!

* * *

_

Irvine paced around his room, while his fingers were tightly gripped onto his cordless phone. He tried to call his girlfriend Selphie, but he kept on getting a busy signal.

He took a deep breath and sat down on his bed. _What could you be doing Seffie? _

He hadn't been talking to Selphie for a couple of weeks; most of the time she was busy with something or she hung up on him when he had called her. Irvine was worried about her; normally it was her who constantly tried to call him.

Irvine knew that he had a reputation for being a ladies' man at Balamb High, but was Selphie ignoring him because of that?

_Flashback _

_Irvine tried to stop another argument from erupting with his girlfriend Selphie by grabbing onto her wrist and looking pleadingly into her sparkling, emerald green eyes_.

"_Let me go Irvine Kinneas!" Selphie wailed and tried to free her arm from Irvine's strong, firm grip. _

_Irvine looked down at his girlfriend and forced a modest smile onto his face. "Selphie, calm down," He said soothingly. _

_Selphie glared at him. "No, I will _not _calm down Kinneas!" _

_Irvine sighed. "Selphie, I can explain," _

_Selphie's eyes coldly looked into his own. He took her silence as an offer to listen to whatever it was that he was about to say. _

_His grip on Selphie's slim white arm softened. "Selphie, I was with Jessica for a reason. We're in the same Geography class and we have an assignment to do together…" _

_Irvine felt something wet drip slowly onto his arm. Selphie's tears, fresh from her eyes. _

"_Seffie," Irvine murmured. _

_Selphie looked up at him with a jolt. "Then what makes you think that you can have her hang onto you like she owns you?" _

_Irvine was quiet for a moment. "I don't complain when you have other guys hang onto you!" He shot back thoughtlessly. _

_Her eyes were reduced to slits. "Irvine Kinneas, I haven't let any guys hang onto me the way Jessica hangs onto you! At least I don't go sneaking around your back!" _

_This argument was going nowhere, and apparently Selphie knew that as well. _

"_Look, I don't need this, ok? I've got a lot on my mind without you adding onto it," Selphie sobbed. _

_With one more jerk, her arm was free from Irvine's firm clutch. She walked away from him, her tears now dried up. _

"_Where are you going Selphie?" Irvine called running after her. _

"_Far away from you," She snapped back. _

_End Flashback _

And that was the last time that he actually talked to Selphie. It was on the last day of school as well.

He sprawled back onto his bed. In a way, everyone thought that he had everything. Good looks, money, ladies and he was popular. He never asked his parents for much. They were always at work and he was normally at home on his own. He was used to this process, but now he didn't really care about anything anymore.

With one single blow, he knocked down everything on his table stand. Most of the things that were once displayed on it were in a mess on Irvine's tiled floor. The glass items had shattered into pieces as they made contact with the ground.

The sound of glass breaking, especially a lot at once would've pierced someone's ear. But to Irvine, it was just as regular as the birds chirping cheerfully outside.

Now snapped out of his daze, he glimpsed at the mess in horror and shock as he slowly sunk down onto his knees.

He picked up several pieces of glass, not caring that some of them had cut the skin on his smooth, white hand. Blood gradually trickled down his hand and dripped onto the tiled floor. It didn't pain him at all. In a way, he felt like he had deserved it.

Before Irvine knew it, tears stained a photo of him and Selphie, taken back in the happier days. He howled into the night. The lively, carefree and laidback Irvine was slowly fading away. And was being replaced by a broken shadow of what he used to be.

* * *

The sun was about to set and Rinoa walked back to her Esthar home, accompanied by Squall. They had agood time browsing through the jewels at 'Crystal Petals'. Or rather she had a good time there while Squall was standingin the shoplooking uncomfortable. Rinoa had a particular liking for a crystal chain necklace, but she hid the fact that she liked it. She didn't want Squall splurging his money on something she'd probably never wear. 

Rinoa was in awe after looking at the sky, which was now streaked with red, yellow and orange.

"So you're staying here for just a couple of days?" asked Squall as they were getting closer to Rinoa's Esthar home.

Rinoa nodded. "Yeah. Squall, I'll ask my father about spending time with you. I promise,"

They stopped once they were in front of her house.

Squall faced her and gave her a little smile. Rinoa returned the smile back at him.

Squall then leaned forward to plant a soft kiss on her forehead.

He walked away after that. Rinoa was still a bit shocked that Squall wanted to freely kiss her. Normally, she was the one that kissed him first.

She smiled and touched the spot where his lips had just softly brushed against her forehead. _I just hope that he can one day admit that he loves me. But I don't want him to become an open boyfriend that loves public displays of affection. That would be too much for me! I love him the way he is now. _

Rinoa remembered that her father had given her a spare key to the front door and she retrieved it from her pocket and opened the door.

The house was quiet, like no one was even in it. She had been in this house when she was younger and it never gave her an eerie feeling like it did now. But Rinoa then heard some shuffling and soft, faint voices coming from the living room. Rinoa made her way there cautiously and was amazed to find what looked like Mandy having an intimate conversation with her father.

Rinoa froze. She was too stunned to even speak, yet alone move a single muscle. Mandy looked over her shoulder and gazed at Rinoa smugly while her father looked up at her with a disappointed look on his face.

Mandy stood up from the sofa she was sitting on and brushed past her. Rinoa thought she heard "Busted," escape from Mandy's lips, but thought nothing of it.

Her father gestured to her to sit down, but Rinoa didn't budge from where she was standing. Her father gave her a "Don't make me frustrated now" look and Rinoa then moved from where she was standing and sat down as far away as possible from her father.

Richard Caraway shook his head with disappointment. Rinoa was silent and simply watched her father. After a while, he opened his mouth and began to speak.

"Rinoa, Mandy tells me that you left her on her own and that caused her to almost get lost in Esthar. It was very dangerous for Mandy, being alone and not knowing her way around, especially in a place like Esthar," said Richard, the anger in his voice raising. Rinoa merely looked at him.

"And she said that you made plans with that Leonhart boy so you that you couldn't spend time with us on this family vacation," continued her father.

Rinoa sighed quietly. She knew that somehow, Mandy would try to get her into trouble for ruining her designer pink dress.

"Answer me Rinoa!" demanded her father.

Rinoa's thoughts were broken up by her father's loud, irritated voice. She couldn't resist but say "You didn't ask me anything,"

"Don't you try to be cheeky with me young lady. Your behaviour nowadays is inexcusable. Makes me wonder what that mother of yours was doing with you,"

Rinoa snapped her head back up. "If you're talking about _your _ex-wife, she did a great job of raising me on her own!"

Her father's face was now red with anger. He tried to avoid getting into heated arguments with his only daughter, but somehow they managed to get themselves into plenty of arguments.

"Rinoa, please _kindly_ explain to me why you did what you did to your stepsister Mandy," asked Richard calmly, his face now regaining its normal colour.

Rinoa snorted. Amber and her father weren't even married yet! So Mandy wasn't legally her stepsister. Her father raised his eyebrows, so Rinoa had to respond to him.

"She's done nothing but make my life a living hell. From the moment she stepped into Caraway Manor, she's tried her hardest to make me look like the bad girl and reports lies to Aunt Sophia as well," replied Rinoa in the same calm tone.

Richard nodded in her direction. "What about giving the poor girl a chance? You're going to be living with her and spending a helluva lot of time with her. Why not apologise and start over?"

Rinoa's eyes widened. _You have GOT to be joking me Father! Apologise to Mandy Portman is the last thing I hope to do before I die and leave this planet! _

"Rinoa, I know that you must hate me now," started Richard.

_How _did _you know? _Rinoa thought sarcastically.

"But I'm remarrying Amber because I love her and I want you to grow up with a sibling. I don't want you and Mandy to constantly argue over every little thing. What will Amber think of you?"

_What _won't_ she think of me? _

"I've made a lot of mistakes, but I'm trying to make it up to you. Rinoa, please don't upset me like this again. I was enraged to hear what you did to Mandy. I know that you're a courteous, spirited and beautiful girl, but to hear my future stepdaughter saying that she was scared and shocked at how you just ran off without her…I was let down by you Rinoa,"

Rinoa raised an eyebrow. _I made you upset? I don't hear that often. And since when does Mandy get scared and shocked when someone leaves her on her own?  
_

Just as Rinoa was about to open her mouth to ask something, her father said "If you're going to ask if you can spend time with that Leonhart boy instead of your own family, I'm thinking about it. But I think you've had enough excitement for one day. Go upstairs, shower and get dressed up. We're going out for dinner,"

Rinoa left the room without saying another word. She made her way upstairs and into a room, where she had spotted her suitcases and bags.

She grabbed a couple of things including a towel and entered the bathroom, which was also in the same room.

* * *

"Is there a reason why you're so…so dressed up Mother?" asked Squall as he came into his parents' room to greet his mother. 

Raine looked up to see her son Squall. She smiled. _So Rinoa probably didn't tell him. _

"We," She said, getting up from where she was sitting. "Have been invited to dinner,"

"…"

"Go shower and then get changed dear. It's at that high class restaurant…oh I've forgotten the name now,"

Squall said nothing, but did as he was asked. He left the room and ran into his father on the way.

"Squall my boy! You were out for a long time!" said Laguna gleefully with a goofy smile.

Squall didn't even bother to remark. Most of the time, he was reserved and polite when his mother was in the room with his father, but when he was alone with his father, he didn't give a damn about what the man had to say.

Squall tried to brush past his father and make it to his own bedroom, but his father stopped him.

"Squall, let's talk,"

"Whatever," responded Squall and this time, he managed to get to his room.

Laguna smiled into the distance. "At least you're trying Laguna," A soft voice said.

Raine came up and patted his back. "Yeah, I'm always trying Raine,"

_But it'll take more than just trying to get Squall to forgive Laguna…

* * *

_

"I hope that you haven't caused any trouble Amanda," said Amber as she was applying on a cherry coloured lipstick.

Mandy scowled. _My name is Mandy! _She wanted to snap.

Amber eyed her doubtfully. "Amanda, what have you done _now_?"

Mandy rolled her eyes. "Nothing," Amber gave her a look. "Oh alright, I got Rinoa into trouble," She quickly added.

Amber sighed. "I don't know how you ended up being so impertinent Amanda,"

Mandy stood there with her arms folded. _But it's not my fault! _Her mind screamed.

"You know Amanda; you were always a good girl, but now, it's like trouble and nastiness adopted you. Where did I go wrong? What made you hate me so much that you decided to punish me in your own way? Do you think its funny watching me suffer?" asked Amber quietly with hints of anger and frustration.

Mandy was silent. She didn't know what to say to her mother. "You may leave now Amanda,"

Mandy left the room and carefully closed the door behind her.

_This is all Rinoa's fault! If she hadn't gotten together with Squall, I wouldn't have hated her and my mother wouldn't hate me! _Mandy thought angrily.

She walked past a room where Nida was napping. He had gotten some food poisoning after drinking an Estharian milkshake. She then peeked into the room that Rinoa was supposedly meant to stay in. She smirked. _Maybe there's an even better way of keeping Rinoa out of my way…_

Mandy took out a key that she had secretly swiped from her mother and Richard's room when her mother wasn't looking and locked Rinoa's door.

_There! Now darling Rinoa won't be able to get out, because you have to unlock it from the outside! _

She strolled back to her own room, satisfaction written all over her smirking beautiful face.

A floor length mirror was placed in Mandy's room and she willingly used it to her advantage just to make sure that her dress wasn't ruined in any single way, like it was last time. She grimaced as she remembered all the humiliation that she had to endure at Rinoa's party. But this time, it wouldn't be her who would be humiliated.

Mandy smiled to herself as she smoothed the back of her dress. Her dress was black and ruffled and fell above her knees. It was revealing, so she had to wear a black tube top underneath so that it wouldn't expose her chest whenever she leaned down. A pair of matching black high heels completed her look.

Mandy ran a hand through her long silky blonde hair, which she had made wavy for that night only. Smiling at her reflection one last time, she spun on her heel and then proceeded to march with poise downstairs.

"Where's Rinoa, Amanda?" asked Amber as Mandy entered the living room where she and Richard were patiently waiting.

"Rinoa's feeling tired from today's little tour, so she decided to rest a bit. But she told me to tell you that she and Nida will make it in time to eat with us," explained Mandy.

"Should I go tell her that we're leaving now?" asked Richard as he was about to go upstairs.

"No! I mean…no, she might not want to be disturbed right now Daddy," objected Mandy.

Richard stopped in his tracks and frowned. Amber looked over at her daughter and eyed her skeptically. Mandy met her mother's gaze and forced a truthful, innocent look onto her face, so that she wouldn't be suspicious.

"We might as well leave now, I'll call Rinoa's mobile phone if there's any trouble," sighed Richard.

Amber nodded and signaled to her daughter that they would be leaving. Mandy walked slowly to the door, as her heels were hard to walk properly and quickly in.

Climbing into her mother's fiancé's car, Mandy grinned a deadly smile into the moonlight. Everything had just fallen into place. Everything would've been perfect too, if Rinoa wasn't in the picture.

_This is the first day of Rinoa's beautifully, tortured life…

* * *

_

In her bathroom, Rinoa ran a hand through her wet raven hair while blow-drying it. She didn't want to catch a cold that night or look strangely funny either. After a while, her hair was warm and wavy. She brushed her hair and tried to untangle any knots that might've formed as well. After brushing her long raven hair for a while, it turned straight and silky smooth again. She pulled it up into a Chinese style bun and stuck red hair chopsticks into it.

Setting her brush down on the bathroom cabinet, she smiled unemotionally to herself into the mirror in front of her. Nowadays, she just wanted to scream out all her feelings and _not _have someone tell her that everything would be fine, when they knew that it wouldn't be. She blinked back several tears before stepping back and exiting her bathroom.

There was total darkness in her room and Rinoa found that it didn't annoy her at all. It suited her mood right now and she didn't bother to turn on the light.

Rinoa tossed the clothes that she was wearing before onto her daisy printed double bed. A floor length mirror situated near the bed reflected what she was wearing for the evening.

Rinoa was wearing a slinky, red halter dress that really showed off her slim, fit body. Her hair was held up in a Chinese style bun with red chopsticks and she wore silver heels and a fashionable long, black overcoat, in case it got cold later on in the night.

She exhaled heavily. Rinoa really didn't want to do anything except for spend time with Squall during this break in Esthar. But she knew that she had to behave and do as her father said. She couldn't help but wonder about her mother. How was her mother at this moment? Was she at work? Was she at home in Balamb? Did she miss her own daughter?

The expression on Rinoa's face changed from moping and 'I don't really give a damn' to resentment. Why hadn't her mother called her to see how she was going? Was it possible that she forget about her already?

Rinoa then let out an ear-piercing scream and her hands dug into her hair. Moments after her outbreak, tears slowly fell out her eyes and streaked her pale face. _Why? Why Mummy? Why haven't you written a letter to me or at least called me to see how I'm going? Did you and Father plan this…? Did you want me to go through all of this? Why? WHY? _

She knew that it was immature to cry over something as little like this, but she couldn't help but feel this way. Wiping her tears with a tissue that she had taken out of her handbag, she walked over to the door and attempted to open it.

_That's funny. I swore that I heard voices before and the door wasn't as hard to open or close…_

Rinoa played around with the door knob, trying to get it to open. The little gold rimmed door knob simply wouldn't budge. Rinoa's brow furrowed in frustration as she was twisting the knob in hopes of getting it open.

Then it came to her. _Why that sneaky little - ! Mandy! How dare she! Suck up to me just so that I wouldn't see her true colours! When I get my hands on her, I swear it won't be a pretty sight. _

Rinoa pounded on the door, hoping that someone would still be at home to hear her cries and banging on the door.

"Help me! Somebody please!" cried Rinoa, before sinking down onto the peach coloured carpet floor.


	11. Heavy Hearts

**Hatred to Love **

**A/N: **Hey there! How are you all? I know that most of your reviews were all asking "Why continue letting Rinoa suffer?" And "Is this the end?" My replies are this is all part of my sinister little plan. You'll see in future chapters. Just continue reading and you'll find out. And no! This is not the end. There are too many unanswered questions and mysteries in this story and I'd hate to let it end here as well! Before you read, Angelsorceress, yes I do know about YGO (I did have some stories as well, before I deleted them and got obsessed with FF) and I would love to read your story. Much luck with your writing! And one last thank you to Commander Squall Leonhart. Thank you so much for your words of inspiration! And no, I don't mind. I'll be sure to check out your stories!

**Chapter 11 – Heavy Hearts **

"Well, it's not like Richard Caraway to be late, is it?" remarked Laguna with his trademark cheerful smile.

Raine, Laguna and Squall were standing near the entrance of 'Glass Roses', where they had been invited to dinner that night by Richard Caraway. But he and his family were nowhere to be seen.

Squall casually kicked some pebbles that were a part of the restaurant's beautiful waterfall garden with the tip of his shoe. He really didn't want to go out anywhere that night. He really hated it when his parents just dragged him along with them.

"Richard should know better to get here before the guests do," said Raine shaking her head.

Laguna looked in Raine's direction and gave her a small smile. He then looked over to where his son Squall was standing; distanced away from him and his wife.

Squall looked up to see an exquisite night sky filled with many bright, shining stars. He didn't smile, but his eyes secretly did.

_Paint the sky with stars…is what Rinoa always said when she saw the night sky filled with not that many stars. _

"Mother, you said that Richard Caraway would be here, didn't you?" asked Squall after being silent for some time.

Raine looked over to see her son actually looking a little interested for the first time this night. Squall didn't look particularly happy when she had told him that they would be going out to dinner that night.

"Yes I did Squall. Rinoa should be coming too," answered Raine who knew that Squall was only asking that question because he really wanted to know whether Rinoa would be coming as well.

Squall gave his mother a little nod, before staring at the road with a cold, intense look on his handsome face.

After several moments, a black, sleek looking designer car pulled up into the parking lot of 'Glass Roses'.

"Finally," Squall heard his father murmur.

Soon after the driver (Richard Caraway Squall presumed) had parked the car, figures emerged from it.

Squall's eyes broadened as he saw the stunning figure of Mandy, his ex-girlfriend in an eye-catching black dress, making her way to him.

"Squall!" squealed Mandy as she leaped into his arms for an unexpected hug. Squall stumbled back a bit, but after moments of her burying her head deep into his chest, he gently pushed her off.

"Good evening Laguna, Raine," greeted Amber politely.

Raine hugged Amber in a friendly way while Laguna and Richard shook hands in greeting. Raine knew that something, or rather someone was missing.

"Richard, where's Rinoa?" asked Raine after noticing that it was the raven-haired girl that wasn't present.

"She was tired from today's events so she decided to nap. And my nephew Nida got food poisoning so he's resting at home as well," responded Richard.

Raine smiled at Richard, before focusing on being welcoming to Amber. "Is that your daughter Amber?"

Amber smiled warmly at Raine and said, "Yes, my only precious daughter Amanda or as she prefers 'Mandy',"

The two women relaxed and began chatting and before long they were in a deep conversation as if they were two old friends who had just met after a long time.

"What are you doing here Mandy?" asked Squall coldly after receiving the sudden hug from her.

Mandy's light hazel eyes twinkled in the moonlight. "Didn't Rinoa tell you?" asked Mandy, changing the subject.

"Tell me what?" said Squall coolly.

Mandy stepped closer to his warm body and began tracing circles on his arm. "That I'm her stepsister," whispered Mandy and looked up into his mysterious blue eyes that she loved sinking in.

Squall's electric blue eyes slightly widened and Mandy could clearly see the shock in his eyes.

"You're lying," accused Squall. Mandy simply smiled her sweetest smile at him as she twirled a lock of her light, wavy blonde hair around her finger.

"I'm not lying Squall, I _am_ Rinoa's stepsister," sighed Mandy as she focused her gaze on the rose garden, that she and Squall were standing near to.

Squall looked at her in an unfriendly manner. "Tell me something Mandy," Mandy looked at him eagerly with a pleased smile on her pretty face.

"What did you _do_ to Rinoa to make her unable to be here?" continued Squall with a colder tone in his deep, voice.

The smile on Mandy's face wiped off as fast as a drop of water dripping into a stream.

"Absolutely nothing!" snapped Mandy haughtily. Squall eyed her suspiciously. There was something in her voice that told him that she wasn't telling the truth.

Squall shrugged it off and walked past her, but before that he remarked cold-heartedly to her, "Be grateful that this _isn't_ a Cinderella story Mandy,"

Mandy's light hazel eyes fiercely looked into his own blue orbs. "Why's that Squall?"

Squall looked past his shoulder and saw that his parents, Richard and Amber had already gone inside the restaurant and had left him standing outside in the cold with Mandy.

"Because then, you'd be the ugly stepsister," said Squall with a smirk on his face and then continued to make his way into the sophisticated restaurant.

Mandy glowered at his backside. "Are you suggesting that I'm_ ugly_!" screamed Mandy. "Answer me!"

Mandy attempted to run after him and also follow him inside the restaurant, but due to her black high heels being so difficult to walk in, yet run, so she tripped over. Mandy sat on the cold, hard ground with a scowl on her face. She saw that some ushers standing near the entrance of 'Glass Roses' were pointing and laughing at her.

"What are you laughing at!" she shouted at them angrily and hastily got up from her position on the ground.

* * *

Lying on her stomach, on her warm double bed, Quistis was gazing at the big, white moon that was up in the dark, night sky with a wistful expression on her lovely face. Her looks resembled a pretty porcelain doll, but she had always denied this. 

_I never knew that I'd be feeling this way, now that we all know Rinoa won't be coming back for term 2…It's as if I lost a part of me. _

Quistis turned over and exhaled heavily. She was reading a novel before, but she had found that she was reading the exact same paragraph over and over again. She couldn't really concentrate on reading, when she was thinking and stressing so much.

_Or maybe it's because I miss hanging out with Leanna and everyone else…Actually, it was becoming a bit boring for me, hanging out with Rinoa, Squall, Selphie, Zell and Irvine. All they did was tease me or sometimes get caught up in their own worlds. Hanging out with Leanna and all my old friends, to me, was always exciting and never really boring. They actually appreciated me for who I am…_

Quistis pulled a pillow and laid it underneath her head. She bit onto her bottom lip as she dialed Leanna's home number. After ringing for a few moments, someone picked up.

"Hello?" said a feminine voice sleepily.

Quistis lightened as she heard Leanna's soft, gentle voice. "Hey Leanna? It's me, Quisty,"

"Hey there Quistis!" responded Leanna contentedly.

"Did I bother you or anything Le?" asked Quistis uneasily who was twisting the phone cord around a finger.

"Nope Quisty. What's up?" asked Leanna in her warm, friendly voice.

"I wanted to ask…do you think it's alright if I sat with you guys at lunch again? I mean…that I really do miss you guys," said Quistis sorrowfully.

On the other line, Leanna's eyebrows were raised high in surprise. "R-r-really Quistis?"

Quistis smiled dejectedly. "Yes, really Leanna,"

"Wait. I thought that when you left our group, you said that you'd be better off hanging with Rinoa and Selphie, rather than us…" said Leanna shortly.

_That's true…I did say that…_

"Well that was mainly because Mandy was becoming a bitch in training and no one really stood up to her except me," protested Quistis.

Leanna went quiet as she remembered that memory she had tried her hardest to forget.

"Sure, you can come back Quisty. I missed you so much!" said Leanna happily.

Quistis smiled. "So, I'll meet you at the corner at seven fifty, so we can walk to school together on Tuesday, ok Leanna?"

"Sure thing Quisty. Night," said Leanna and she hung up.

Quistis clicked the 'end' button on her phone and sighed to herself.

_No regrets about this. I'm gonna go forward and not look back.

* * *

_

As she fell to the carpet floor, Rinoa couldn't understand why Mandy was doing all these vicious things to her. _What, _thought Rinoa, _have I done to that girl, besides date her ex-boyfriend? Oh wait, I also wrecked that dress of hers too. _

Feeling that she wouldn't get out of her 'prison' until morning, she pounded on the door one last time in an attempt to get out.

In the other room, Nida coughed loudly. Suddenly he woke up with a fright. _Was that a dream? Or did I really hear someone cry and pound on the door? _

He got up from his bed, not bothering to make the sheets. He walked outside to where he thought he heard all the cries and hammering on the door.

"Um, hello?" said Nida loudly.

He then heard some muffling sounds coming from his left side, so he turned that way, to be greeted by a closed door.

"Nida!" said a voice, sounding overjoyed.

"Rinoa? Is that _you_?" asked Nida, scratching his head.

"Yeah it's me! Before you ask, I got locked in here by Mandy! So somehow, could _you _open the door Nida?" requested Rinoa.

Nida stared at the door, mortified. He paced around the hallway and then felt something uneven beneath his shoe. He leaned down to see what it was and to his surprise, it was a single, silver key that he knew could only belong to Rinoa's door. He had seen his uncle say that it could lock Rinoa's door.

_What an idiot that Mandy is. When you attempt to lock someone in, you have to take the key with you! She really _is _scatterbrained. Sheesh, dropping the key right near Rinoa's room as well. _

Nida then proceeded to open the door. Rinoa ran out of the room and into his arms.

"Thanks Nida. I thought that I'd be stuck in there forever," said Rinoa with small tears dripping from her eyes.

"You're welcome Rinny. Hey, don't cry little cousin. Besides, where are Uncle Richard, Amber and Mandy?"

Rinoa shrugged. "Probably at the restaurant where we were _supposed _to be going to for dinner,"

"And the restaurant is _that _sophisticated?" said Nida with a grin, referring to Rinoa being so dressed up.

"_Yes. _The restaurant is _that _sophisticated," said Rinoa with a roll of her eyes.

"I gotta get changed!" called Nida as he ran back into his room and shut the door.

"You also gotta drive the other car to the restaurant. 'Glass Roses' I think it was called," called Rinoa after him.

Nida opened his door again and stuck his head out. "I gotta _drive_?" squeaked Nida. Rinoa nodded at him. "You heard me,"

"Fine, I'll drive," Nida then shut the door again.

Rinoa breathed with relief. _Finally I got out of there! Thank Hyne that Nida had to drink that Estharian milkshake. Otherwise, I'd probably still be stuck in there. _Rinoa looked back into the room with a shudder.

* * *

"So this is one of the best restaurants in Esthar?" asked Julia Heartilly, who was in a car with her driver and her assistant Michelle. 

Michelle nodded. "Yes it is Julia. Would it be alright if I visited my family?"

Julia looked at her questioningly. "Well, you see Julia, my sister has just given birth and she and the baby are home now," explained Michelle.

"Congratulations Michelle! Of course it'd be alright if you visited your sister and her baby. Tell her that I congratulate her and wish her luck. I won't mind dining on my own," laughed Julia warmly.

Michelle smiled at her. She liked it how Julia was still down-to-earth and friendly, even though she was very famous. It still surprised her that Julia actually seemed approachable, unlike other celebrities, who acted like divas and thought that they were better than everyone else, just because they were well-known.

As the car reached 'Glass Roses' Julia thanked her driver and told him to take Michelle to her family's house. She then waved good bye to them both as she stepped out of the car.

Julia tucked a strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear. She smiled reassuringly to herself and placed her hands into the pockets of her long, brown overcoat. She began to walk to the entrance of the restaurant.

"Mummy!" called a voice from far behind.

Julia smiled to herself and remembered how Rinoa called her that. She ignored the voice, looked straight forward and continued walking again.

"Mummy!" the voice called again. Except that this time, it seemed much closer than the last call.

Julia tried hard to ignore it, but when she heard "Aunt Julia!" she stopped in her tracks and turned around. Her eyes widened as she saw her daughter Rinoa run up to her with open arms.

"Rinoa! What are you doing here in Esthar?" asked Julia softly.

Rinoa hugged Julia even tighter. "I…I missed you so much Mummy!" choked Rinoa.

Julia smiled affectionately at her daughter as she stroked her silky raven black hair. "I know sweetie, I know. I can tell,"

Nida was standing near them, looking rather uncomfortable. When Julia let Rinoa out of her arms and looked in his direction, he avoided her gaze.

"I don't think that you remember who I am Aunt Julia, but I'm N-…" began Nida. But he never finished his sentence as Julia leaned over and embraced him tightly.

"Of course I remember you Nida! How have you been doing?" asked Julia after she had let him out of her arms.

Nida smiled at his beautiful Aunt. "Good Aunt Julia. You?"

The three of them began walking together inside the restaurant together. Rinoa asked Julia a lot of questions. And of course, Julia answered them all. Julia also questioned Rinoa and she answered them too. After all the questions and answers, they all began talking.

* * *

Once they were inside the elaborate restaurant (the ushers had directed them up to a private banquet room), Rinoa quickly scanned the entire room for her father, Amber and Mandy. After scanning several times, she was about to give up, but then she spotted Mandy's long blonde hair, which was hard to miss. 

"I propose a toast," said Richard raising his glass up.

Amber looked at her fiancé with a charming smile forming on her lips. "What for darling?"

Raine and Laguna also raised their glasses, but Squall and Mandy both chose not to participate. Instead, Mandy watched them with a sweet smile on her face and Squall looked at them, with an uninterested look on his face.

"To…_Julia_…" murmured Richard as he lost control of his glass and dropped it. The contents of it spilled all over the red and white tablecloth as well as on Richard's pants. The remainder of the drink spilt over the edge of the table and onto the tiled floor. Amber hastily took a serviette and helped Richard wipe the wine off his pants.

"Excuse me Richard?" said Amber with a small frown on her face after she had given the wet serviette to a waitress to throw away.

Richard couldn't answer her. He couldn't tell his fiancée that his ex-wife was also under the same roof that they were as well. He had requested to the waiters when he had made a reservation, to let them dine in a private banquet room, but he couldn't figure out how his daughter, ex-wife and nephew had managed to get in. Especially his ex-wife.

_Julia looks so beautiful tonight…But, I'm _in _love with Amber. Why am I feeling this way? My heart now feels so heavy. Or it might be because of all the wine we drank in celebration…But since when do two glasses of wine make your heart feel so heavy? _

"Mandy!" called out Rinoa. The blonde jerked her head around. She gasped as she caught sight of her stepsister, standing with Nida and her mother Julia with her arms folded and a smirk on her face.

"Is something wrong Mandy?" asked Raine gently as she saw the shaken look on Mandy's faintly pale face.

"No. Everything's absolutely…perfect," mumbled Mandy as she found her voice again. She had already tried her best to keep Rinoa out of her way. But she knew that Rinoa just being here would just ruin her evening anyway.

Squall glanced at Mandy distrustfully. He turned his head around and saw Rinoa. _Rinoa…_thought Squall, feeling his heavy heart lighten.

"Julia, Nida, Rinoa, come join us," called Laguna who had just spotted them. The three of them looked up and saw Laguna smiling at them.

As they approached, several waiters pulled chairs up for them. Julia graciously thanked them, before they all sat down. The three of them greeted everyone as they settled in.

There was an uneasy silence that rushed through the table. Before Julia, Rinoa and Nida had arrived without warning; there were conversations brewing, drinks being sipped and laughter in the air. But now, it was so quiet, that you could hear the wind outside blowing.

Richard cleared his throat. "What…what brings you here Julia?" asked Richard who was clearly still shocked.

Amber shot Julia a look. She then turned to her fiancé with a look on her face that merely said 'Get rid of her!'

"Hello there Julia," greeted Raine and Laguna in unison. They smiled sincerely to their old friend. She had seemed a little nervous about sitting there as well, but with their warm greetings, Julia instantly felt relaxed.

Rinoa's chair was placed next to Squall's and she was relieved to see that her boyfriend was there as well. Under the table, she held onto his hand tightly. Mandy had shot her several death stares as she sat down, but when the adult's attention was all on Julia, Rinoa swore so quietly that only Mandy could hear her.

"Good evening Julia," said Amber after a long time of being silent and forcing a weak smile on her face.

_Why does his ex-wife have to be here? This just spoils the mood now. No one likes dining with their spouse's ex. Maybe she wants to break Richard and myself up, because it's killing her that her ex has a new love, while she's still single. _

"What are you doing here in Esthar Julia?" asked Raine softly who was secretly pleased that her old friend was there. She had felt a bit uncomfortable talking to Amber, as the woman only talked about topics that she didn't want to discuss.

Julia smiled. "I'm just here for a meeting about the upcoming award show held here in Esthar in several months' time,"

"Oh alright. Will you be performing at it Julia?" asked Laguna who was now looking keen and interested.

Julia nodded excitedly at him. "Really? I love your music Miss Heartilly!" said Mandy breathlessly. Rinoa, Nida and Squall rolled their eyes while Amber looked over to her daughter in surprise. Julia smiled at the girl, but not one of her warm, friendly smiles. Something about Mandy told her that she wasn't what she seemed.

_I can just imagine it. All over magazine covers, 'Meet Julia Heartilly's daughter's stepsister'. I wish it could be true! _Thought Mandy vaguely.

"What brought you here to _this _restaurant Julia?" asked Richard, trying hard to keep calm. But Julia knew him well and recognised the irritation in his voice.

"Am I _not_ allowed to eat at any restaurant that _Richard Caraway_ is eating at?" replied Julia pleasantly and gazing straight into his dark, brown eyes.

"Yes. I mean no! Hyne Julia, will you _stop_ testing my patience?" demanded Richard, his face now looking distressed. Amber placed her hand on his arm. But that didn't calm him down.

Laguna and Raine ate their entree meals quietly. From previous times in the past, they knew not to interfere with Julia and Richard's infamous arguments. It was their business and both Laguna and Raine respected that. Nida sat there quietly eating as well. He really didn't want to listen to his uncle and aunt bicker.

"Julia, just be thankful that Richard let you sit with us. Kindly do _not _argue with my _fiancé_. He could've easily had you taken out already!" said Amber through gritted teeth and she glared at Julia in a deadly way.

Julia snapped "Stay out of this Amber!" at the same time Rinoa had said "Oh shut up Amber,"

"_Rinoa_," said Squall firmly. Rinoa looked at him with an innocent look on her angelic like face.

Rinoa then got up and took Squall outside to the restaurant's balcony with her.

The adults didn't even realise that Rinoa and Squall weren't even in their seats anymore. Julia, Amber and Richard were now in a three way argument (or as Richard called it, a 'disagreement'), Laguna and Raine were now moving on to eating the main course, Nida was sipping some iced Sprite and Mandy had slowly and carefully followed Rinoa and Squall. The restaurant respected their customers a lot, because there were long, white curtains covering the long arch windows from the inside. Mandy slipped behind the curtain and to her surprise, there was an ornamental sculpture that she could hide behind, so that Rinoa and Squall couldn't spot her spying on them.

As Rinoa led Squall across the balcony, he stopped walking. Rinoa looked behind her shoulder and then stopped as well.

"What's wrong Squall?" asked Rinoa timidly. Squall looked down at his girlfriend, who was looking as beautiful as ever. He felt his heart wasn't that heavy as it was earlier that evening.

"Why didn't you tell me that Mandy was your stepsister?" asked Squall gesturing back to the private banquet room.

Rinoa's eyes lowered as she bit her lip. She walked across and looked up into the night sky. "I…I wanted it to be the right time to tell you that. I didn't want to tell you at a random moment that your ex-girlfriend would be my stepsister!"

"But you know that you can tell me…_anything_ Rinoa…" said Squall walking over and tying his arms around her stomach.

Rinoa nodded, her eyes closing for a brief moment before opening again. Mandy, who had stuck her head out from behind the sculpture to see what was happening, almost screamed as she observed what was happening outside.

_Why? Why would he be so loving and affectionate to…to her when she didn't really do anything to earn it? I…I cared for him. I listened to him when no one else would. I was his pillar of support. I stood by his side. I fell in love with him! And here I am, still picking up the frickin pieces that are left! _Thought Mandy heatedly, wishing that Rinoa hadn't re-entered Squall's life.

Squall pulled Rinoa around and embraced her tightly. Rinoa felt the warmth in his body and wondered how a cold person like him, could feel so warm. She rested her head on his shoulder and exhaled softly.

Mandy then accidentally bumped the sculpture and it trembled a couple of times and just as Mandy had sighed with relief, it hit the glass window, making a vibrating sound as well as leaving a little crack.

_Whoops…My bad…_thought Mandy fretfully.

Rinoa examined the window where she had heard something crack and frowned. She thought that it was just her imagination and tried to push the thought out of her mind. She felt as if she could melt in Squall's arms.

_He never did anything to show his affection for me. He never did anything of his own free will to show that he cared. It was always me who showed my devotion and affection for him. Why would you love Rinoa when she obviously doesn't love you the way I do Squall? Why! _

Rinoa took her head off Squall's shoulder and leaned up to kiss his lips. She didn't care that it was out in public. She didn't care that at any time the adults could come out and see what they were up to. She didn't care that her cousin Nida or her stepsister Mandy could be watching them right now. She didn't care that this might probably be the last time she could do this with him. The only thing that mattered was that she was happy.

Tears welled up in Mandy's eyes as she saw this scene. She looked down to the ground, her long, wavy blonde hair covering her face and her tears dripping down onto the tiled floor. Deep down, her heart was being ripped up into shreds once again.

_So, he really _does _love her…more than he loved me…Damn Squall! I love you! I love you more than you'll ever know! I…love…you Squall. If only you knew… _

With one last look at Rinoa and Squall locked in a tight embrace and kiss, Mandy turned away, feeling her heart ache. She wiped her tears away and was breathing heavily.

Moments later, she looked out to the big moon, with a small smile playing on her lips. _Maybe…just maybe…there _is_ a way to break Squall and Rinoa up for _good.


	12. First Day

**Hatred to Love **

**A/N: **Hey there again! Wow, I can't believe that I'm up to 12 chapters already! Seems like just yesterday that I posted up chapter 1…anyways I'll probably be crying by the time I finish this story. This chapter takes place on the first day (of school) of term 2 for the gang (R, S, Z, Q, I and S). I'm really, really sorry that Mandy is in this story (and having a fab time ruining Rinny's beautiful life…), but I created her for a purpose and I can't kill her off. But you can, if you decide to write a fic about all the cruel stepsisters (or evil siblings) in the world of FF VIII fanfictions. Just kidding! But really, you can. Cerulean Devil, you're right. I purposely made him 'forget' that Mandy would be Rinoa's stepsister. You'll also see in future chapters why he forgets. And Kiz, I know that it seems weird, but you'll see Mandy develop more in future chapters. Special thanks to Sammie and Tina. I hope that you enjoy this chapter! (Although I do think its quite boring…)

**Chapter 12 – First Day **

Rinoa moaned as the alarm clock on her bedside table rang. She pulled off her warm blanket and stared with sleepy chocolate brown eyes at the pure gold encrusted clock that was placed there messily along with her other belongings as well. She lazily dragged her arm up and turned off the alarm. She yawned and slowly got up from her bed.

_How could the holidays end so fast? I'm still not used to waking up this early…_

Rinoa folded up the sheets and neatly made her bed. After she was done, her bed looked like no one had slept in it or even sat on it. Rinoa then, walked over to her windows and tied her curtains back to their usual hook. She half expected it to be cloudy and gray like it was in the holidays, but to her surprise, she was greeted with a clear blue sky and some bright sunlight.

And ever since the night where she and Squall had a secret rendezvous at 'Glass Roses' in Esthar, Rinoa actually smiled. It wasn't a forced smile that she had quickly plastered onto her face, whenever people she didn't feel comfortable with talked to her or were around her. It was a real, pure smile. It actually showed how she felt right then.

After that night where Rinoa was locked in her room by Mandy, she had confronted the blonde, but the blonde had burst into tears and said that it was a terrible thing that anyone could ever do. Rinoa had said that she had suspected that her blonde haired, hazel eyed stepsister had done it, but Mandy had protested that her lock could've had a glitch that caused it to lock itself. Rinoa had rolled her eyes at the stupidity of Mandy's answer, but she couldn't help but think that it could've been either Amber or Mandy who had committed the crime.

Rinoa would've immediately blamed the blonde beauty if she had caused any more trouble, but to her surprise, the naughty blonde hadn't been up to any mischief lately. What surprised Rinoa even more was that she was now treating her like a real sister would. But Rinoa never let her guard down, even if the blonde was treating her like a sister, she was still very annoying, just like a piece of gum stuck onto your shoe.

With a last smile at the picture perfect clear blue sky, Rinoa walked over to her wardrobe and opened it. She sighed as she took out her new Deling Academy uniform. Before the holidays had begun, her father had bought her, her school uniform. She had to admit that it looked nice, but she had thought that Balamb High's uniform was better.

After she had gotten changed, she stood in front of her oak floor length mirror (which was right next to her wardrobe) to see how she looked. The skirt was a light grey colour and it seemed to perfectly go with her raven black hair. The blouse was white and it had her new school's emblem on the right breast pocket. Her warm, woollen v-neck jumper was also of a light grey colour and had the school emblem sewn on it as well. She also wore long knee length white socks and a pair of black leather school shoes.

She spun around a couple of times, to see how she looked at different angles. From the back, she thought that her skirt looked way too short. She tilted her head and let her raven hair hang down. Strands of her hair also fell in front of her eyes. She wrinkled her nose and then decided to do her hair. As she ran a brush through her silky black hair, she wondered about her new school. _I really wonder if I really made the right choice. I wonder if everything will be alright. I wonder if Squall and everybody will miss me. _

Setting her hair brush back down on her make up table, Rinoa reached for her school shoulder bag which was on a shelf in her walk-in wardrobe and walked out of her room, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Raine felt the sick sensation come up again. She couldn't keep it down much longer. Her stomach had felt painful for almost two months and she thought that it would've gone away by now. 

She placed her hand over her mouth in hopes that she could stop it, but it didn't work. She began to vomit. Luckily for Raine, she was in the bathroom.

Raine began to sob. Tears streamed down her cheeks and splashed onto the bathroom's blue tiled floor. When she heard footsteps approach, she quickly wiped away her tears.

"What's wrong Raine?" asked a panicked Laguna as he rushed over to his wife's side.

Raine said nothing as her husband took her into his strong, firm arms. She instantly felt the warmth of his body. Raine snuggled closer to her husband.

A small frown crossed Laguna's handsome young face. "Raine, what's wrong?"

Raine looked up to meet Laguna's strong steady gaze. She had to tell him now, before the truth would become too obvious. "I'm…I'm pregnant Laguna," said Raine quietly.

Laguna's eyes lit up and a smile crossed over his now cheerful face. "That's great news Raine! How many months pregnant are you?"

Raine couldn't help but manage to smile a bit at her husband's reaction. "Almost…two months now…"

"Come to think about it, you _were _sick a while ago. Didn't you know that you were pregnant?" asked Laguna with concern. Raine shook her head and glanced at her worried husband.

"Why were you crying before Raine?" asked Laguna softly. His deep, smooth voice seemed to soothe and relax his wife. But only for a while.

"I'm scared! I don't want to lose another child!" said Raine in a high pitched, panicked voice and breaking down into even more tears. She was referring to Adelina, Squall's twin sister, whom she lost due to an accident when her two twins were 13 years old. A year after the accident, she had gotten pregnant again, but sadly she had a miscarriage. Ever since then, she was afraid of getting pregnant, in fear that she would not be able to carry the child to full term.

Laguna gently placed his arm over Raine's shoulders. "It's alright Raine. You won't lose the baby this time," he tenderly whispered in her ear.

"How can you be so sure Laguna?" asked Raine softly. Even though her face was stained with tears and her eyes were now a little red, she still looked radiant and beautiful. Raine's hands were now placed around her stomach protectively.

"I have a good feeling this time Raine. Don't stress or tire yourself out too much. I can take time off work to look after you," said Laguna soothingly and stroking his wife's silky, long brown hair.

Raine's eyes broadened. At one stage in the past, Laguna was so wrapped up in his work that he spent all of his time at his office. Even when he didn't need to be there. He rarely ever came home, he rarely visited his family. All that mattered to him was his job as president of Esthar. Raine thought it was because he didn't care about his family anymore, but it was because of Adelina's death and he had thrown himself into his work. During that time, Squall had gotten depressed and he needed his father. But his father was hardly ever around and that had angered him. And he still was. Until this day, Squall was still angry at his father, but never showed it when Raine was around.

"No, it's fine Laguna. I'll be all right, don't worry about it honey. You're president of Esthar, you _cannot_ take time off work," said Raine with a small smile. Laguna's smile widened.

"I can always get Kiros or Ward to fill in for me. You know that Raine," said Laguna kissing the top of Raine's head.

Raine closed her eyes and exhaled. The next seven months weren't going to be easy for her. And she knew that all too well.

A single tear dropped from her eye and stained Laguna's crisp, clean shirt.

* * *

_Where on earth is that girl? I don't have time to be late for my first day at Deling Academy! Hell, I don't have any time to be late at all! That girl better drag her ass out here right now or I _will _break down her door! _Thought Rinoa, fuming as she raced upstairs to get her stepsister down, so that their chauffer could drive them both to school. If her father hadn't told her that she had to wait for her stepsister every single morning, then she would've easily left for school without the mischievous blonde. A maid had told Rinoa that the blonde hadn't left her room at all and that had really irritated her, but she didn't show it at all. 

"Mandy! Get out here right now!" barked Rinoa furiously. She knocked, or rather banged on her stepsister's door several times and tried to open it, but the door was locked. _Figures, _thought Rinoa.

The door then opened and Rinoa stepped back, ready to tell her stepsister off. Rinoa gasped as she examined the girl that stood in front of her. Mandy shook her head, her blonde hair swaying along with it. Her trademark long, light blonde hair was gone. Now it was shoulder-length, layered and a sun kissed honey blonde colour. Also, Mandy now had a side fringe and wisps of it fell in front of her eye. She had already changed into her Balamb High uniform and Rinoa noticed that she had a black scarf wrapped stylishly around her neck.

"What did you want Rinoa?" asked Mandy sweetly with an innocent smile on her face. Seeing her stepsister with her mouth hanging open, Mandy laughed in a girly manner and brushed strands of her hair behind her ear.

"What…What…what did you _do _to your hair?" asked Rinoa, after she had found her voice again. Seeing her stepsister with a different hair style and lighter shade of colour surprised her, as several encounters in the past had told Rinoa that Mandy hated to do anything that would 'wreck' her precious locks.

"Oh this?" asked Mandy, running a hand through her soft, honey coloured hair. "My mother took me to a salon yesterday afternoon and they suggested a whole new look. So…what do you think?" Mandy looked at Rinoa questioningly.

Rinoa cleared her throat and said, "Mandy, the chauffer is not going to wait any longer for us. I finished breakfast and packed my bag, so can we please go now?"

"Jeez, sorry if I'm not perfect like you," muttered Mandy, as she followed her stepsister down the stairs and to the foyer of Caraway Manor.

The car ride to Rinoa's new school (as Deling Academy was closer and more convenient to get there than Balamb High, the chauffer decided to take Rinoa to school first) was unpleasant in her opinion. Rinoa had insisted that she sit up the front with the chauffer, so that she could stay away from Mandy, but the blonde girl had said that she didn't want to be all by herself. Rinoa rolled her eyes, but Mandy had somehow made her feel really guilty. So Rinoa tossed her shoulder bag into the back seat and proceeded to sit down opposite Mandy.

For the whole ride to school, Rinoa sat with an arm propped up against the window and her eyes focused on the admirable sights of Deling City. Once or twice, she had caught her stepsister staring at her with a twisted smile, but with a cold look on her usually friendly face, Mandy quickly smiled contentedly and resumed to applying her eyeliner.

"What's wrong _now_?" asked Rinoa with a sigh, who had caught the blonde staring at her again. Mandy smiled as she placed her eyeliner and mirror back into her pink make up bag.

"Where's my breakfast?" demanded Mandy as she tucked parts of her fringe behind her ear. She had left home without eating any breakfast as Rinoa had rushed her. Mandy had overslept and also spent a long time showering as she was washing her hair.

Rinoa looked her with an expression on her face which was a cross between a smirk and a smile. "Your fault for not getting up any earlier Mandy. Just ask Stuart to stop at a bakery or whatever so you can purchase something to soothe that hungry stomach of yours,"

The limousine then stopped. Rinoa gazed out the window and saw that they had arrived at her new school, Deling Academy. The school was breathtaking, with the buildings resembling a university rather than a high school. From the view inside her limousine, Rinoa could see that the gardens outside the buildings (and where students were now beginning to flock in) looked more like a Chinese garden and that made Rinoa secretly smile.

She leaned to the front and thanked Stuart, before taking her bag, opening the door and leaving. But before she left, Mandy had spoken.

"Good luck Rinoa," said Mandy as she tilted her head to the side and letting strands of her honey coloured hair fall back down onto her face.

Rinoa looked back and gave her stepsister a flabbergasted look in response. Seeing her stepsister speechless, Mandy said, "I know that it's hard starting at a new school, especially since you were really attached to Balamb High. So good luck for your first day sis,"

Rinoa curved her lips into a small, forced smile as she placed her bag over her shoulder. "Thanks," she had replied shortly and she shut the limousine door.

She hadn't seen Mandy smile like a Cheshire cat as the sleek black limousine drove off into the distance. Rinoa sighed as she made her way into Deling Academy's grounds.

_I hope that I made the right choice after all…_thought Rinoa as she tightened her grip on her shoulder bag.

* * *

"Yo Squall! How ya doing man?"called outZell as Squall walked towards their usual spot where they all hung out during lunchtimes and before school started in the morning. 

"…" was Squall's response. Zell's head drooped down. In his mind, he knew that Squall had turned back into 'cold' mode, the way he was before he had gotten together with Rinoa. But now that the caring, loving angel was gone, cold Squall had come back.

"Hey Squall," said Selphie and Irvine together. The two locked eyes for a moment, before looking away. Selphie slid down away from Irvine, causing his eyes to drop and a pained expression to come onto his face.

Zell sighed as Squall took a seat, his usual one located near the tree, that he enjoyed leaning against.

"We're missing someone," said Squall as he leaned against the tree. Zell looked around and looked back at Squall with a puzzled look.

"Um, Squall, if you're talking about Rinoa…yes she's missing," said Zell, scratching his head. Squall exhaled as he heard Zell's answer. Squall tilted his head over to the side as he briefly glanced at the cerulean blue sky.

"A certain blonde haired, blue eyed girl isn't here," said Squall coolly. Zell nodded and Selphie and Irvine skimmed the whole area in search for Quistis. They couldn't see her, but her long golden blonde hair was hard to miss, as they spotted her walking and laughing with Leanna, Jessica, Erika and a redhead whom they didn't know.

"Quistis!" called out Selphie. Quistis turned to the direction in which she had heard her name and quickly waved at Selphie before blushing and continuing to walk with her friends. Selphie frowned and turned back around.

"What's up with her?" asked Irvine, speaking for the first time since he had greeted Squall. Zell shrugged as Squall remained silent.

"Come to think of it, I heard in the girls' toilets that Quistis has decided to re-join the sluts again. Leanna sounded like she was over the moon when she told it to her friends," said Selphie wistfully as leaves from a tree slowly came down and scattered around her.

"They're not _sluts _for the last time Selphie," said Irvine distractedly. Selphie gave him a dirty look, before taking her bag, slinging it over her shoulder and walking off in a huff.

Irvine looked at Zell, confused and then nestled his head on his folded arms. Zell looked at the brunette who had almost fallen over as she knocked into several people. After that, she awkwardly made her way into the school's science blocks.

"It's probably going to be just us three again, if we decide not to hang out with the other guys," murmured Zell, referring to the other popular guys they used to hang out with. But then Irvine had gotten into an argument with one of the guys and the three of them decided to leave the group.

Squall closed his eyes. _I wonder how we'll manage it through the rest of the year... seeing as we're just like we were, before Quistis, Selphie and Rinoa joined us, _mused Squall.

* * *

"Looking through your school records and reports Miss Heartilly, I'm wondering why you didn't enrol here at our school earlier," the principal, Mr. Norman said as he gazed at Rinoa with interest through his spectacles. Rinoa smiled at him nervously and kept on looking around her new principal's office. 

"A student in the advanced maths class, extension English class, representative at district debating competitions, an exceptional vocalist and piano player thanks to your mother," smiled Mr. Norman as he narrated the list he was holding that listed all of Rinoa's academic, sporting, performing arts and leadership achievements.

Rinoa smiled at the middle aged man warmly and nodding, and then he continued to read the list out loud to himself.

"A representative at district and regional athletic carnivals and was also a member in the student representative council," concluded Mr. Norman with a pleased smile as he rounded off all of Rinoa's achievements.

"I think that our school is perfect to cater for all your needs and wants. In time, I think that you'll be even more successful in all your academic, sporting and performing arts areas than you were at your old school,"

Rinoa didn't know what to say, so she curved her lips into a small smile. Then, a lady at the office (situated right next to the principal's office) entered the room and handed Mr. Norman a plastic sleeve filled with what looked like school equipment. The lady smiled welcomingly at Rinoa, before exiting the room.

"Ah, yes of course," murmured Mr. Norman as he examined the plastic sleeve. He handed it over to Rinoa, who after receiving it, stared at it.

Seeing Rinoa looking baffled, the middle aged principal chuckled and explained to her what the package she was holding in her hands was.

"That plastic sleeve contains your timetable, your school diary, a copy of the school's code of conduct and also a list of school fees and subject payments, but your father has already paid for them, so there's a receipt clipped to the list," explained Mr. Norman gesturing to the package. Rinoa looked at the package and then smiled thankfully at her principal.

Mr. Norman then stood up, almost knocking his leather black chair over, but his hands shot out quickly in time to avoid it from actually falling. Rinoa got up at the same time as he did, wondering what would happen next.

_So far, this school seems…decent. I wonder what will happen next, _mused Rinoa with a wistful look on her pretty face.

"Well, that does conclude our introduction to the school Miss Heartilly. I did make sure that we could squeeze in a little tour of the school,"

"But Sir, what about my classes?" inquired Rinoa.

"Ah, yes your classes. After our brief tour, a student from the student council has volunteered to take you to all your lessons, as you have most of your lessons with him anyway," responded Mr. Norman with a friendly smile.

"Sir, did you say _him_?" asked Rinoa, not sure whether she had heard the man properly. Mr. Norman nodded in response to her question.

Mr. Norman then opened the door and gestured to Rinoa to come out. Rinoa smoothed her slightly wrinkled skirt, before strolling over and exiting the room.

* * *

_What's up with Selphie and Irvine? They both hardly ever argue and they usually forget about it after a day or so, _thought Squall. 

It was true. The once picture perfect couple were in a bitter argument. Since Rinoa wasn't here, Squall had no one to talk to. Selphie was already in class and sitting at their table, when Irvine and Squall walked in. Selphie had taken Rinoa's old seat which left Squall to sit in between her and Irvine.

"So…what'd you do in the holidays?" asked Irvine with forced cheerfulness. He was trying to break up the tense atmosphere, but it didn't seem to go well.

Squall didn't bother to reply to Irvine's question and neither did Selphie. Seeing that the two of them weren't in any mood for a conversation, Irvine turned around and began to chat with Leanna.

"Hey Irvine, what's up?" asked Leanna brightly with a warm smile.

Irvine's lips formed a small smile in return as he and Leanna soon became engrossed in an intimate conversation. He then took his chair and moved it over to Leanna's table.

"Why was Quistis with you anyway Le?" murmured Irvine, so that Selphie, Squall or anyone else on Leanna's table wouldn't be able to listen on to their conversation.

Leanna's brilliant emerald green eyes were filled with reluctance. "Promise you won't tell anyone else, k?" Irvine nodded and then keenly listened to Leanna.

"She said that she's been ignored for months now by you guys. Once in a while, you'd tease her or rely on her for something. She wanted friends who she could talk to, rely on, and depend on. She really missed hanging out with me and the girls. I mean, she used to be one of us! But then she left us, mainly because of Mandy's bitchiness and the fact that she enjoyed Selphie and Rinoa's company," explained Leanna quietly. Irvine nodded solemnly as Leanna's words drifted around in his mind.

_I thought that Quistis was cool with the fact that we were always joking around with her. I hope that we're all still friends though. I may not show it, but I value her friendship. When all of us, Leanna, Quistis and co. and Squall, Zell, me and all the guys were all hanging out, Quistis actually looked out for me, helped me and listened to me. I never knew that she was feeling this way…_thought Irvine, a gloomy expression crossing onto his face.

"Anyway Irvy, just talk to Quistis herself. I'm pretty sure that she doesn't want to lose her friendship with you guys. Just because she's hanging out with us, doesn't mean that she hates you, wants to forget about you or isn't your friend anymore. I'm certain that she'll still be your friend, no matter what," said Leanna gently as she placed her hand on Irvine's broad shoulder.

As Irvine was about to open his mouth to say something, he was interrupted by their science teacher's abrupt entrance into the classroom. Irvine smiled appreciatively at Leanna, before getting up and taking his chair and placing it back in its original position next to Squall.

Mrs. Kramer opened up her roll book and then marked the roll. When she reached Rinoa's name, she called it out, forgetting that the raven haired girl was no longer a student in this school.

"Where's Miss Heartilly?" asked Mrs. Kramer, tapping her pen impatiently against the roll book.

"She left the school," said Selphie vaguely as she fiddled with the zip on her pencil case. Irvine noticed that his distant girlfriend didn't sound as cheerful as she used to be.

_Is it because of Rinoa leaving? Or is it that she's upset that Quistis has left our group? Sefie doesn't even _try_ to confide in me anymore, _thought Irvine with a cheerless smile on his face.

After their young science teacher had finished marking the roll, she looked around the classroom, a thoughtful look on her pretty face.

"There'll be some adjustments to the science partners, seeing as how Miss Heartilly is no longer in our class and Miss Portman's…" said Mrs. Kramer, but was rudely interrupted by Mandy.

"It's Miss _Caraway_," interrupted Mandy with a rude tone in her voice. She looked around the classroom, seeing how the other students would react before looking back at her teacher and saying, "Go on,"

"And Miss _Caraway's _partner switched science classes at the end of last term. The silly boy didn't know that he wasn't meant to be doing this science unit until at least next year," continued Mrs. Kramer with a roll of her eyes.

Whispers went around the classroom. "Mandy is General Caraway's stepdaughter?" "Duh! Do you know any other Caraways?" "I wonder if Rinoa left because of Mandy." "If Rinoa's not at this school, then why is Mandy still here?"

Squall rolled his own eyes after hearing those whispers. Irvine and Selphie had no need to question about Mandy's new last name. They had known that Mandy was to be Rinoa's stepsister, after she had told them before the end of the holidays.

"That's enough chatter now. So, Miss. Caraway, your new science partner will be…Mr. Leonhart," said Mrs. Kramer, jotting down something in her book. Squall didn't bother looking up. He sighed quietly as Mandy squealed happily and pulled out a chair at his table.

"So Squall, how are you going to deal?" whispered Selphie pointing to Mandy.

Squall shrugged. "No idea…"

Mrs. Kramer then wrote up notes on the whiteboard and all the students hastily opened up their workbooks and pulled out a pen to copy down the notes. Squall had noticed Mandy glancing adoringly at him, but ignored it.

_I wonder what you're doing now…Rinoa…

* * *

_

"Did you like what you saw Rinoa?" asked Mr. Norman once they were back in the school's main entrance after the tour of the school.

Rinoa pretended to think, but then she smiled charmingly at Mr. Norman and said, "It's amazing! Deling Academy looks more like a university than a private high school. The school gardens are absolutely _beautiful, _and the atmosphere of this school…it reminds me of my old school,"

"I'm glad Rinoa. I'm glad. Because if you didn't like our school, then you probably wouldn't be able to focus on your studies. If you have any questions, problems, anything at all, feel free to talk to me. Now, time for you to get to your first class," said Mr. Norman in a gentle manner. "Where _is _that boy?" mumbled Mr. Norman under his breath.

Rinoa stood there, running her hand through her silky black hair several times. After a while, she heard footsteps running faster and faster from behind her.

Not really wanting to find out who 'that boy' was, Rinoa stood still and didn't move a muscle.

"Finally. Where _were _you?" asked Mr. Norman grimly, glancing at the young man through his glasses.

"Sorry that I'm late _Sir_. I was just caught up in something," replied the young man. Rinoa had noted that his voice was deep, smooth and tough. Something about his voice had reminded her of someone.

_But it couldn't be him…could it? _

"You're here now, that's good. I want to introduce you Rinoa to Seifer, your personal assistant for today. He'll take you to all your classes and help you if you need it," said Mr. Norman, introducing the two teens.

At the mention of his name, Rinoa turned her head around swiftly, her raven hair swaying along as well. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened in shock as she met the strong, steady gaze of the blonde haired, handsome young man. It was _him. _

"Seifer…Almasy?" whispered Rinoa, afraid to even know the answer.

"Nice to meet you again…Rinoa," said Seifer with a smirk on his face.


	13. Hidden Emotion

**Hatred to Love **

**A/N: **Hey again! Thank you so much for your reviews from last chapter. They really motivated me to update sooner. I wanted to update sooner, but all these last minute assignments and homework (can you believe that I got _holiday_ homework and assignments?) were taking up most of my time. I'm back at school now, and the work is piling up again. But I promise to update whenever I can. There's a new character in this story, Samantha. She's an OC, but based on my good friend and loyal reader of this story, Sammie. (Where would I get a volcano from?) Hope that you enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 13 – Hidden Emotion **

"Well, well, well, if it isn't 'Princess' Rinoa Heartilly," said Seifer with a smirk on his handsome face, after Mr. Norman had left the two to get to their second period class. Rinoa stared coldly into his jade green eyes.

"I never realised that you had _left_ Balamb High Seifer," said Rinoa bitterly. Seifer's face then broke out into a small, cheeky grin. Rinoa looked at him, remembering that when he was at Balamb High, he hardly ever smiled or had shown any emotion at all.

"Yeah, well you were a bit caught up, trying to get away from Puberty Boy," replied Seifer and looked past her shoulder. Rinoa noticed that his muscles were visible, even though his school shirt had covered his broad shoulders.

_What? Why am I noticing his muscles? I'm such a horrible girlfriend to Squall… _

"Puberty Boy?" frowned Rinoa as she tilted her head to one side. Seifer smirked once again at her.

"Puberty Boy, Squall Loire-Leonhart. You know, the cold, ice teenager who is every girl's dream guy," said Seifer with a small snicker. Rinoa looked at him with a roll of her eyes. She didn't like the way he was acting at all.

"Shut up Seifer," mumbled Rinoa, who was obviously annoyed that the blonde haired boy was insulting her boyfriend. Seifer looked in her direction and then glanced at his mobile phone,looking for the time.

"Listen, Rinoa, we can catch up later, we have to get to Geography class now," said Seifer while briefly searching the hallways.

"Whatever Seifer," said Rinoa as she followed him to their Geography classroom.

Rinoa was quite surprised to walk through the school hallways and be greeted with university like interiors. The outside of the prestigious private school had already amazed her, but the interior of the school had astonished her even more. Metal gray lockers lined up along the hallway, where small crowds of students had no began to visit, taking books out and placing books in.

Rinoa's lips formed a depressed smile as she remembered how she and her friends had once visited their lockers before school and in between classes. She immediately snapped out of her thoughts as Seifer roughly told her to go into the classroom on their right.

Seifer entered the room first, followed by Rinoa. He dropped his bag down onto the table and sat down on the seat; his hands placed behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. Rinoa then reluctantly took her shoulder bag off, placed it on the table and sat down next to Seifer. His eyes taken off the ceiling were now focused on the raven haired girl sitting next to him.

Rinoa could feel Seifer's strong, steady gaze on her. She turned her head away but she knew that he was still watching her with those intense jade green eyes of his.

"What's wrong Almasy?" asked Rinoa with a sigh as she looked up at him, as her head was placed on her folded arms which were nestled on the table.

"Nothing. I'm just surprised that you'd sit next to me," said Seifer, looking at the other side of the classroom.

After that, the two of them were quiet. More students had entered the classroom; chatter filled up the room and patched up the silence. Somewhere inside of her, Rinoa couldn't help but think that she'd have a hard time getting used to the atmosphere of her new school.

"Hey Seifer, who's the girl?" asked a high, feminine voice. Seifer and Rinoa both looked up at the same too, to see who it was.

A tall, thin raven black haired girl was standing right before them. Her hair was up in a ponytail, but what Rinoa thought made her look really pretty, was the stylish side fringe, which hung down onto her face and fell in front of her eye. On her back she was wearing a small, sports style backpack and in one hand, a black instrument case. Rinoa thought that overall she looked pretty and was probably a friend of Seifer or possibly even his girlfriend.

"Samantha, do I _have _to tell you who everyone is?" asked Seifer who was now standing next to the raven haired girl.

Samantha kicked his groin in annoyance. "Yeah, you do Seifer," Seifer stumbled back and glared at the striking chocolate brown eyed girl.

"What was _that_ for?" asked Seifer angrily. Rinoa couldn't help but let a giggle escape from her mouth. This Samantha girl had attitude and spunk which reminded her of Selphie. Except Rinoa didn't know that her brunette friend was no longer her usual cheerful self and had almost lost her attitude and spunkiness as well.

Samantha placed her unzipped bag and black instrument case down next to Rinoa and then looked at Seifer directly in the eye. "Oh come on Seifer, Fujin can kick way harder than me. If you can't defend against my kicks, I'd love to see how you'd be after Fujin's done with you," said Samantha with a teasing smile playing on her lips.

Seifer growled at her. "Rinoa, meet Samantha, Samantha meet Rinoa," he said finally.

Samantha spun around on her heel and faced Rinoa. "Nice to meet you Rinoa," said Samantha with a warm smile on her pretty face.

"Hey there Samantha, nice to meet you too," answered Rinoa softly.

Seifer stood there with his arms folded and leaning against the wall, as Samantha began chatting to Rinoa. The two raven haired girls had already sat down on their seats.

"Your name seems familiar. Are you Rinoa Heartilly? Daughter of Julia Heartilly?" asked Samantha curiously as she crossed her long, lightly tanned legs.

Rinoa smiled at the black haired girl. She knew that because of her mother's fame, she had become quite well known too. Her mother had never pressured her into going attending a private school like the children of her mother's other celebrity friends, because she believed that Rinoa would only do exceptionally well in school, if she was at a school that she wanted to be at.

But before Rinoa could answer Samantha's question, their Geography teacher unexpectedly entered the classroom, causing all the chatter and laughter from all the other students to slowly die away.

Seifer had also taken a seat down next to Rinoa as the short, blonde haired middle aged teacher began to mark the roll.

Making her way down the roll and marking off whether the student was present or absent, the teacher then paused as she reached Rinoa's name. Her pen poised as if she were about to write, the blonde haired teacher peered around the classroom, as if some suspicious activity was happening.

"Do we have a Rinoa Heartilly in this classroom?" asked the teacher, gazing at every single one of her students through her glasses.

Whispers and murmurs filled up the classroom's silent atmosphere again. Rinoa could feel just about every single pairs of eyes focused on her. The only pair of eyes that wasn't staring at her in surprise was the piercing emerald green orbs of Seifer's.

Not meeting anyone else's eyes, Rinoa meekly raised her hand and said "Here," to verify that she was present as well as Rinoa Heartilly.

The teacher gave Rinoa a warm, friendly smile, before continuing to mark the roll. Eyes continued to stare at Rinoa as she focused her own brown eyes at the table in front of her. Back at Balamb High, no one really made a fuss about her being the only daughter of the famous songstress Julia Heartilly.

Rinoa could hear whispers and murmurs around the classroom. "Is that _really _Rinoa Heartilly?" "She's Julia's _only_ daughter isn't she?" "Wow, a celebrity's daughter is at _our _school," "I should've known about Rinoa attending our school; I _am_ one of Julia's biggest fans after all," "I wonder if she's one of those spoiled, rich divas, like the teen children of celebrities,"

After Samantha had said "Here!" in her high, soft voice, the teacher placed the roll on her top of her folder and leafed through it. She sorted out some worksheets as all the students in the class began to chat quietly.

"I knew that there was something about you that reminded me of Julia," said Samantha in a friendly tone. Rinoa slowly nodded as Samantha began talking again.

Looking up at the ceiling and slouching down on her chair, Samantha smiled. "I basically became interested in music again because of your mother," Seeing that Rinoa was interested and keen to listen to what she had to say, Samantha continued on. "When I was younger, I was forced to do all these things that my parents wanted me to do. Piano lessons, art lessons, violin lessons, ballroom dancing lessons, you name it. I don't think my parents even cared about whether I liked it or not. Being the only girl in my family, I guess that I had to have a lot of skills, probably to impress and dazzle my parent's friends from the country club. As I grew older, I realised that my parents were only _using_ me…to make _them _look good. I gave up on most of my lessons, because I thought that they weren't worth wasting my time on. That made my parents pretty angry," said Samantha quietly, with a small chuckle.

Rinoa was quiet, as Samantha's words replayed over again in her mind. _I was forced to do all these things that my parents wanted me to do. _Rinoa tucked a lock of her black hair behind her hair. _My parents never really forced me to do anything. They just wanted me to do things that interested _me. _But what if they _had_ made me do all those things that Samantha's parents wanted her to do? Would I be angry at them? Or would I be grateful, for coming from a privileged, wealthy family? I know that many kids don't even get opportunities and extra leisure activities that they want to do, because of tight money problems. _

"For my birthday, a couple of years ago, one of my older brothers had bought me a CD, your mother's debut album 'Eyes on Me'. I was a bit disappointed to tell you the truth, but I listened to the CD anyway. I was amazed that your mother's songs had a real meaning behind them, rather than the ridiculous chart toppers that have no meaning whatsoever that you hear all the time on the radio. Julia wrote most of her own songs and played the piano in such a breathtaking manner. She was only 20 years old at the time and was going to be the next big thing and 'it' girl according to the media. That's why I began taking flute lessons, rather than piano, because I had already reached the advanced level. It was because of your mother that I began taking an interest in music again," said Samantha with a warm smile that highlighted the features of her face. Rinoa returned the smile, delighted that her mother had helped her new friend take on something that she thought was worthless.

The rest of the class had already begun working on the worksheets that the blonde teacher had handed out a while ago. Seifer didn't bother to pick up a pen as he studied the worksheets, pretending to be occupied so that Samantha wouldn't suspect that he was listening on to their conversation. Seifer was still studying the sheet of papers that he was holding, but the work wasn't sinking into his mind.

_Samantha always seems so positive and so carefree…Who would know that she was from such a tough, yet wealthy family? _Thought Seifer.

As the blonde haired teacher walked past their row of tables, Seifer didn't even bother to even look like he was working hard on the worksheets. The teacher knew that he could be a troublemaker, but he was a good student that preferred to muck up all the time and not bother doing the set class work.

"You two girls, why aren't you working?" said the blonde haired teacher, looking questioningly at the two raven haired girls sitting beside Seifer. Rinoa and Samantha looked up at the same time, plastering innocent, confused looks on their porcelain features. Several people turned back to see what had shattered the silence, while others turned around to see what the fuss was about.

Seifer sighed as he peered over Rinoa's shoulder and caught a glance at Samantha's face. She had always lent him a hand in the past, although he had always refused it. He owed Samantha a favor and even though he wouldn't admit it, he would never back down on his word.

Leaning back on his seat, he looked at the teacher directly in the eye. "So Miss, what did you do before you got a job at this school?" asked Seifer casually with a small smirk on his face, trying not to appear as though he was trying to pull the teacher's attention away from the raven haired beauties.

The teacher's face softened as Seifer spun Rinoa's black pen in his hand skillfully. His eyes darted away from his teacher's own, as he knew what would happen next.

Taking her glasses off and placing them in one hand, the teacher crossed her arms and began talking.

"Well, you see Seifer, I used to write in a newspaper column, but I have had some experience in teaching. When I was invited by Mr. Norman to join the teaching staff at his new, private school, I was ecstatic at a fresh start in another career opportunity besides journalism. I already had an interest in Geography, so I was offered to teach in the social sciences department," said the blonde haired woman with a smile on her face.

Seifer looked up at her as she sighed and forced a small, tight lipped smile on his good looking face. From behind the teacher's back, Samantha mouthed 'Thanks' to Seifer and smiled sweetly at him. Rinoa turned around and smiled gratefully at him.

"What was I meant to be doing?" asked the teacher rhetorically, slapping her forehead. As Samantha began to open her mouth to smartly reply to her blank question, the teacher walked off, mumbling something under her breath and looking a bit lost.

Samantha snorted as the teacher walked off and began checking on the progress of the other students in the class. Rinoa had her hand curled up in front of her rosy coloured lips, so that the teacher would think that she was coughing, instead of snickering at her antics.

Looking at the casual, calm and collected Seifer on one side and a laid back, carefree and smiling Samantha on the other side, Rinoa felt relaxed. She thought that she would have a hard time getting used to her new school, but maybe; just maybe, these two interesting characters might be the key to helping her liking and accepting her new school.

* * *

The sound of the bell ringing was heard throughout all the classrooms and hallways of Balamb High. To the students, this meant the end of period one and onto the next lesson before recess. To all the teachers, another lesson to teach or for the fortunate ones, a break in the staffroom to mark homework, assignments or test papers.

"What's keeping the teacher so long?" asked Irvine as he sat down on the silver seats. Squall, Selphie and Irvine were inside the school gym, sitting down next to the other students in the class. Their PE teacher was usually late, but never this late.

"Who cares Irvine? This means a _bludge_ lesson, right Erica?" remarked Mandy as she fiddled with her honey coloured hair. Erica nodded in agreement to what Mandy had said.

"_Some _of us don't want it to be a bludge lesson _Amanda_," snapped Selphie, who was obviously in no mood to put up with Mandy.

_How Rinoa can survive with that fat blonde, I have no idea! _Thought Selphie as she stubbornly stuck out her tongue at Mandy.

Mandy glared at her in a bitchy way, before dragging Erica off with her. Selphie slumped backwards and leaned against the wall in a casual way. Her emerald green eyes met Irvine's own blue-green ones. She moved her head away, feeling almost guilty for treating her boyfriend this way.

_I'm so sorry Irvine…I wish that I could tell you…but not now. Not yet. I'm so sorry Irvy. I love you so much and I _want_ to tell you everything, all the good and the bad. But I can't. I'm sorry. _

Squall sat on the other side of Irvine, not bothering to even lift his head up as Mandy called out his name in her fake, sweet voice. He knew that it wasn't as if Rinoa had stepped out of his life again, but in his mind it seemed like she did. He didn't want to open up to anyone; he didn't want to interact with anyone else. His friends knew this and they respected it, but they tried to make him open up, but no luck.

_Flashback _

_Rinoa sat on the hospital bed, her raven black hair looking beautiful and glowing. All her angelic features were still there, despite just waking up in hospital after a terrible accident. A bandage was wrapped around her forehead, to stop more blood from coming out. _

_A heartbreaking expression was on her face. She had been this way all morning. She hadn't shown any emotion or spoken much at all. She just sat up, leaning against her pillow, underneath the blanket covers. _

_Thirteen year old Rinoa lifted a hand up and touched the thick bandage draped around her forehead. She sighed heavily and looked out the window and stared wistfully at the cerulean blue summer sky. She looked away as she heard the door to her private room close. _

_Squall stepped into the room, looking at Rinoa with a solemn look on his young, good looking face. Rinoa just looked at him, blinking in confusion as if she didn't know who he was. _

_He walked over to where her bed was and sat down on the white and blue covers. _

"_How are you Rinoa?" asked Squall with a tight lipped forced smile. He didn't feel like smiling or being happy at all, but he wanted to seem positive for Rinoa, even though he had not wanted to. His own hand was reaching out to touch her small, pale hand. As his hand touched her own, she pulled away, as if his touch was lethal. _

_Squall leaned back, a confused look crossing onto his face. What Aunt Julia and Mum said can't be true…thought Squall as he glanced at Rinoa, who tried hard to not look at him. _

"_How…how do you know my name?" asked Rinoa quietly as she stared at the hospital's shades of green tiled floor. This caused Squall to look and feel even more puzzled. Only in his wildest dreams would he ever imagine that his 'angel' would not know him or even recognise him. _

"_Rinoa…don't you know who I am?" asked Squall, his voice going louder than usual. Rinoa looked alarmed at the volume of his voice. So far, the people that had visited her had used soft, soothing voices, not loud, demanding ones. _

_Rinoa shook her head, as she continued to gaze at this mysterious brown haired stranger who was sitting on her hospital bed. "Do…do I know you?" asked Rinoa softly as she looked into the brown haired boy's mysterious blue eyes. _

_Squall's eyes broadened as Rinoa's questions floated into his mind. How…how do you know my name? Do…do I know you? _

_How could this be Rinoa? You remember everything else…but you've forgotten…me? Thought Squall as a million different emotions ran through him at once. You can't have forgotten me Rinoa…you can't have…_

_He leaned closer to her, his blue grey eyes locking into Rinoa's striking brown orbs. "Do you know anyone by the name of Squall Loire?" _

_Rinoa's emotionless, pale face then turned into a small frown as she thought of the name. Squall Loire…Squall Loire…Squall Loire…I don't think I know anyone by that name at all. _

"_I don't believe I know anyone by that name," said Rinoa finally, causing Squall to cringe as the words escaped from her own mouth. _

"_This is a joke, right Rinny?" said Squall, an emotionless expression crossing onto his puzzled face. It might not seem like him, but deep within his heart, it was slowly beginning to shatter. _

_The pale, striking raven haired girl simply looked at him, not knowing how to respond to his question. She gave him a small, cheerless smile as she leaned back onto her pillow. _

_He placed both his hands onto her slender shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Rinoa, it's me…Squall. Don't you know who I am?" asked Squall pleadingly, hints of hurt and sadness in his voice. Rinoa could hear his heart beat faster and faster. Her own was too. A mysterious stranger shows up into her private hospital ward and asks her if she knows who he is. This was too much for her. Especially since she was still feeling fragile and weak from having lost a lot of blood and having many restless nights in the hospital. _

_Rinoa looked up and gazed into his electric blue eyes. Even though they didn't show it, Rinoa could tell that his eyes were distressed and emotionless at the same time. _

"_I'm sorry, but I'm feeling really weak right now and I need some rest. Thank you for taking your time and dropping by, even though I'm pretty sure that I've never met you in my entire life," said Rinoa, looking away from him as his blue eyes were so intense and blue, it hurt to look at. Her left hand had rested on the blanket covers the whole time, but it had slowly curled up into a tight ball. _

_Squall gradually released his hands from her shoulders and backed away. She almost felt sorry that she couldn't help him in any way at all. As he made his way out of the room, Rinoa thought that she had seen small tears form in his unemotional blue eyes. _

_She exhaled heavily. But I'm pretty sure that I don't know him at all, thought Rinoa as she closed her eyes. _

_His smile…when he first came in…it was an incredibly lonely smile…_

_Squall was still in her room, yet she couldn't see him, because he was standing behind the wall. He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. She doesn't remember…she doesn't remember me…She remembers everything else…except for me. Even though she's still alive, it feels that I've lost two important people in my life. Adelina _and_ Rinoa, thought Squall, his face still emotionless. _

_He placed his hand on his forehead and then brushed some of his dark brown hair away from his face. He blinked furiously so that his small, newly formed tears wouldn't drop down from his eyes. _

_How could you not remember me Rinoa? Our promise…our childhood…everything that had to do with me…you forgot. I thought that Mum and Aunt Julia were joking when I overhead them saying that you've regained your memory, but that one part had remained forgotten. All the memories of me. _

_How could you forget Rinoa…? How could you…forget…? _

_End Flashback _

Squall blinked as the flashback ended. He hadn't had them for a while and he was glad. _Why did _that _memory have to drift back and remind me? The day that I visited Rinoa after the accident. The day that she said that she didn't know anyone named Squall Loire. I thought that she was just kidding at first, because it's in her nature, but she was serious, _thought Squall.

_But she's with you now…there's no need to remember the past anymore…_his mind said. Squall looked away.

_But what if something happens and I lose her again? What if she regains her lost memories of me and remembers that the old arrogant, cold, pig-headed, wealthy, popular idiot in her eyes was the guy that she had promised forever…?_ Squall said to himself.

"Selphie, I just wanted you to know this. We're boyfriend and girlfriend and we have been for nearly four months. That might seem like a short amount of time for me to admit my real feelings to you…but I do love you. But if you're going to continue to ignore me and what I say, then so be it. Dump me right here now, right now and you'll never have to put up with me and my stupid antics again," said Irvine softly enough for his girlfriend to hear as he stood up from his seat. He didn't want to lose her, but from the way that she was behaving, he could clearly see what she wanted.

Irvine's words sunk deep into Selphie's mind and in her imagination, pierced through her heart. She didn't want to let Irvine go, but she didn't want to have to be so secretive around him either. She knew that because of her family problems at home, it had stopped her from smiling and laughing that much these days. And with Rinoa _and _Quistis leaving, she had found it even harder to force a smile onto her normally cheerful face.

Selphie looked up, to see her boyfriend's back facing her. She bit her bottom lip as she stood up and made her decision. She walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his stomach. No one too much notice of this, because the other students were off talking in their own little groups and minding their own businesses.

As Irvine decided to walk away after saying what he wanted to say to his distant honey coloured girlfriend for a long time, he felt a female's trim arms wrap around his stomach. He stopped in his tracks, knowing who it was without even having to look or ask.

"Sefie?" murmured Irvine as a small, gloomy smile played on his lips. Selphie rested her head on Irvine's back and several strands of her honey coloured hair fell onto her face, almost covering her pretty emerald green eyes.

"Irvine…I don't want to let you go. And I know that you don't want to let me go either," said Selphie, finding it difficult to find her voice. Irvine remained quiet, so Selphie opened her mouth and began to speak again.

"I don't blame you if _you _want to dump me. I've been playing the role of the jealous, angry girlfriend for a while now. But I now know that you were only spending a lot of time with Jessica, because you really wanted to pass Geography. I'm sorry for _everything_ Irvine!" said Selphie in a high pitched voice, before breaking down into tears. Irvine could feel his shirt dampen and could tell from that, that Selphie was weeping.

He placed his hands on her own and gently took them off his stomach and comforted his girlfriend. Now she was in his arms, and dampening his shirt, but he didn't care. His arms wrapped around her slender shoulders, he tried to soothe her. "Selphie…but does this mean that you'll tell me why you've been so secretive for the past few weeks?"

Selphie looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy from shedding a lot of tears. She couldn't tell Irvine the truth about why she was being distant…at least not now.

All Selphie could do was shake her head. She had found it hard to talk, because she was crying so much. She was grateful for having such a patient, caring and understanding boyfriend, even though she knew that because of how she was treating him, she didn't deserve someone like him. Irvine nodded and leaned down to kiss her tear stricken cheek. After that, he caressed her hair. Selphie felt safe in his arms but knew that if she didn't resolve her family problems, then she'd never feel the warmth, the tranquility of being together with Irvine.

Irvine tilted her face up to his and smiled his trademark cheeky grin at her. Selphie brushed away some of her tears and smiled mischievously at him, her emerald green eyes shining with bliss. The old Selphie and Irvine were back.

"Mandy? Mandy? Mandy Portman are you listening to me!" said Erica, trying to divert Mandy's attention away from Squall. Twirling a lock of her new honey coloured hair and gazing at Squall with a longing and dreamy look on her face was what Mandy was doing. Erica was talking intimately to her, except that Mandy had lost interest after a couple of minutes, so she decided to gaze dreamily at her ex-boyfriend.

"Hmmm?" replied Mandy in a soft tone, her hazel eyes still focused on Squall. Erica sighed exasperatedly and an annoyed look took over on her face. "_Mandy_…." Whined Erica.

_Everything about him…will always remind me of what we shared together. He's still acting all depressed and cold, now that my darling stepsister isn't there to calm him. The only thing that the raven haired bitch was good at was being a pest and the only thing standing in the way of me and Squall ever being together again. _

"Erica, you know that Rinoa is my stepsister now, don't cha?" asked Mandy, flipping her blonde hair behind her shoulder. Erica nodded, looking at her friend with a sly look on her face.

"You're not going to get me over to your house, so that I can play the wicked stepsister's evil crony, are you?" asked Erica skeptically, looking at Mandy questioningly. Mandy looked at her with a roll of her eyes.

"Of course not! What kind of stepsister do you think _I_ am?" asked Mandy, forcing a shocked look onto her pretty face and raising her voice to a high pitched girly tone. She knew that most of her friends respected Rinoa and if they knew about her newest scheme, then there would be possibilities that they would stop supporting her or worse, warn Rinoa in advance. Leanna, her ex-best friend had already stopped talking to her and dropped her as a friend and Mandy didn't want to lose any more friends.

_Leanna…I'm really sorry…But I don't think you'll be forgiving me anytime in the near future. _

"Anyways Mandy, still think that you and Squall will be an item, now that Rinoa's _nearly_ out of the picture?" asked Erica vaguely. Mandy bit her lower lip and a thoughtful expression entered her face as she tilted her head onto one side, letting her honey coloured hair hang down.

After moments of silence, Mandy smiled. "We'll see Erica. We'll see,"

* * *

Two raven haired girls and a blonde haired boy could be seen sitting underneath the big oak tree, in Deling Academy's school yard. The two girls were chatting away, as well as trying to finish off their lunches, while the blonde boy sat there, an unreadable expression on his face.

"If you're going to sit there and wait for Fujin and Raijin, they're still on their family vacations," said Samantha, picking up a small piece of sushi from her cute, peach coloured lunchbox and popping it into her mouth. Rinoa looked at him with a sympathetic smile on her face.

The three of them had a lot of classes together that day, and she had heard Fujin and Raijin's name called out a couple of times, when the teachers were marking the rolls. She knew that it wasn't like him to behave this way, but maybe he had changed drastically after he had left Balamb High.

"You know Rinoa, there's this fortune teller downtown in Deling. Wanna go after school? My chauffer can take us there," said Samantha, who tried her hardest not to look at Seifer. A small frown entered Rinoa's face as she thought about what Samantha had asked her.

"I…I don't know Sammie. My father and stepmother might need me home," said Rinoa sounding unsure. Samantha looked at her understandingly, as she packed her lunchbox back into her bag. Rinoa had noticed that Samantha had left her bag unzipped.

"Relax Rinny; today's our early day, school ends at 2:15, rather than the usual 3:10,"

Seifer jerked his head up, as he heard what Samantha had said. He smirked as the words repeated in his mind. "Not that _stupid _fortuneteller, who can't predict anyone's fortune if her whole life _depended_ on it!"

Samantha grimaced. Rinoa's eyes shifted between the two, who had now locked eyes with each other.

"Well that _stupid _fortune teller predicted that a blonde haired male, would become a new acquaintance of mine!" snapped Samantha. Seifer muttered some curse words under his breath. Rinoa, who knew in the past to stay out of other people's arguments, withdrew her delicate, small white hand and rested it on her thigh.

"Most of the males in this school _are _blonde haired! You're not even acquaintances with most of them!"

"Forget it Seifer, you just don't want me to take Rinoa there after school, because _you _want to take her somewhere so that you two can catch up!"

"What? No I don't," retorted Seifer, looking past his shoulder, an enraged look on his handsome face. "How did you know that the two of us knew each other?" asked Rinoa curiously. She knew that it wasn't too obvious that both of them had known each other and she was pretty sure that Seifer hadn't told Samantha anything about his past, because that's the way he was.

"You probably don't hang around with my second cousin then Rinny," sighed Samantha. "As much as I hoped that I'd never have to say this, but my second cousin is Erika, you know the big gossiper of Balamb High. She told me a lot about you, but I won't mention them now,"

Rinoa's eyebrows furrowed as she remembered the dark haired girl and how she had spent most of her time gossiping and making Rinoa's life a living hell after she and Squall had begun dating.

"You're related to _Erika_?" Rinoa couldn't help but say. Samantha nodded with a tense smile on her face. "Yeah, but I hardly ever tell anyone that,"

_Because she's probably a humiliation to their family…_mused Rinoa, a thoughtful look on her face.

"So…is that a yes Rinoa? Besides, it's just for some fun anyway and who knows, her predictions might be true," said Samantha playfully. Rinoa didn't want to do anything after school, except maybe call her friends and ask them how they were, but what would one outing after school do?

"Oh alright. I'll go," said Rinoa finally. From the corner of her eye, she thought that she had seen Seifer roll his eyes, but she didn't think much of it. Samantha had a huge smile on her face and waved her black instrument case around victoriously.

"Watch where you wave that thing Samantha, you could hurt someone," remarked Seifer, a cold look on his face. Samantha glared at him through her dark brown eyes, but didn't say anything.

Rinoa had a little smile on her face, to make up for all the tension. But all she was really doing was hiding her emotions.

_I wonder how Squall and everybody else is doing right now…

* * *

_

"Hey Squall! Squall, wait up!" called a female from far behind. Squall didn't bother to turn around and see who it was that was calling his name, as he was walking across the road to his sleek, black chauffeured limo.

The cool autumn breeze blew gently against Squall's hair. He hadn't made it in time to cross the lights, so he was standing there, an unreadable look on his handsome face. Cars passed by, and orange coloured leaves fell slowly and gracefully down from trees and scattered the footpath.

Squall could hear footsteps approaching him, but as usual, he didn't care or even bother to see who they were from the corner of his ice blue eyes.

The footsteps suddenly stopped as the person or persons had caught up to the lights. Squall could hear the person from behind exhaling heavily as they caught their breath again.

"Squall…I finally…caught up to you," said the girl. Squall simply ignored her.

Frustrated that he hadn't shown any signs at all, the girl walked over and stood right in front of him. "Squall, talk to me, please?"

"What Mandy?" said Squall finally. Mandy sweetly smiled at him. "You know how Edea gave us that _über _long and boring assessment task today?" Squall's eyes were focused on the gray paved road. "Well, Daddy's having renovations done to the house, so can we work at your house?" Mandy quickly fibbed. She hadn't wanted to bring him back to Caraway Manor, because then Rinoa would want to spend time with him and she'd just be left out.

"Please?" said Mandy, a sincere look on her face. Squall rolled his eyes and silently prayed to Hyne that the lights would change so that he would be able to cross the road.

_What the heck would she want to do it at my house? What's wrong with the local library? _

The lights changed and the little green man appeared, signaling that Squall would be able to cross the road. More leaves gracefully fell down from the trees and the wind gently blew them to other positions.

_He has to say yes. He just has to! I forgot to bring my mobile phone today and I don't think the chauffer will pick me up today! Squall just has to say yes!_

Seconds past and with a low grunt, Squall said "Fine," And then proceeded to cross the road without saying another word to the honey haired girl. Mandy smirked and followed after him to the other side of the road, where the black limousine was parked.

_I knew that I'd get my way…I knew it. _


	14. Let Go

**Hatred to Love **

**A/N: **I'm really, really sorry that I haven't updated in a while! I've been busy with school and now, since it's nearly the end of the year, everything's been slowing down. This chapter is quite short (compared to the other chapters…) and I'm going to keep them short, but very detailed. Sorry for taking so long to update! And please (if you have the time), check out my new ficcie 'Under the Same Moon!'

**Chapter 14 – Let Go **

"Are you alright Rinoa?" asked Samantha who was sitting beside the raven haired girl in her limousine. The two of them were in Samantha's chauffeured limousine and for most of the ride; Rinoa remained silent, while looking at the picturesque views Deling City had to offer.

Rinoa looked at Samantha, who had a slightly concerned look on her face. Seeing that she had caused her friend to worry, Rinoa gave her a reassuring smile and said, "How much longer until we get to the fortune teller?" Samantha smiled at her friend. "Not that much longer I hope,"

"You seemed quiet during class time…is anything wrong Rinoa?" asked Samantha, her face looking slightly concerned.

_I…I really don't want to tell her…it's personal and I've only just met her today…Oh…what should I say? _

Rinoa forced a little smile onto her china doll like face and said, "Don't worry about it Samantha. I just…miss my old school, that's all," The look on Samantha's young and pretty face relaxed and Rinoa let out a quiet sigh in relief.

Silence erupted and the before humid atmosphere of the backseat in Samantha's chauffeured limousine seemed to lose its warmth. On the outside, a mild breeze was blowing, making the gold coloured leaves on the trees shake and causing some to glide slowly and gracefully down to the ground. Autumn was meant to be a faintly warm and cool season, but Rinoa couldn't help but feel cold and empty inside. It wasn't like her to feel this way, but with the turn of events, everything was now possible.

After moments of silence, Samantha spoke up, trying to break up the tense atmosphere. "Did your arm hurt that much, when you caught Pamela's lethal throw?"

Rinoa moved her left arm around and felt a faint muscular pain when she did so. In PE, their teacher didn't want to start on any new sports, so the whole class decided on a free game of catches and throws over the volleyball net. Their class was divided evenly into two teams and the game began. Samantha had caught most of the difficult catches and Rinoa knew that she would, because she had heard from the other girls in the class that Samantha was the sportiest and she was real competition for their teacher.

The ball was then thrown by a curly haired brunette girl, who aimed directly for Rinoa and she caught it, but the ball was thrown with so much force, that her arms throbbed with pain after bringing the ball down from catching it over her head.

"It sort of did Samantha. But the whole class was practically laughing, when you and the teacher had the great debate on who was going to get out first," smiled Rinoa. Samantha flashed her a grin. "She practically couldn't _stand _it when I actually got her out," said Samantha shaking her head which caused more strands of her black hair to fall down in front of her eyes.

The two raven haired girls were then engrossed in a deep conversation about what had happened in school today. The beautiful autumn sky was changing its shades of light blue to a deeper, royal blue, making it even more dazzling to look at.

* * *

Seated comfortably on Squall's bed, with her long slim white legs crossed over each other, Mandy was busy looking through her science textbook for the index page. _Who _cares _if cholera can be a life threatening disease? I don't! _

She had been sitting on Squall's bed for some time now, with her science textbook in her lap. She had been in his room, sitting that way for a while now. Squall was sitting on his chair, in front of his study table. His laptop was turned on and he was going through sites, searching for the disease that he and Mandy had been assigned to. On his face, a look of utter boredom had taken over his handsome features. This wasn't how he had planned to spend his afternoon, but then again, he had no plans at all. But one thing was for sure, he hadn't planned on having Mandy over.

"Squall…have you found anything yet? I'm bored," whined Mandy from his bed. Squall coldly ignored the blonde as he continued to search through sites and books that his half sister Ellone owned.

Minutes passed and the honey blonde girl hadn't received any words at all from her ex-boyfriend.

_If I try to break Squall and Rinoa up anymore…I could lose Squall forever…but what can I do about it? The one thing that I've really loved and cared about isn't mine anymore; he is my stepsister's boyfriend. But _she _was the one that lost her memory in the first place, not me and that was what gave me the chance to befriend Squall and eventually take Rinoa's place as his beloved girlfriend. No one can ever take Rinoa's place and no one can stop Squall from loving her. No one…_thought Mandy. Just thinking that, made her hazel eyes want to water.

The blonde got up from Squall's bed, her science textbook dropping from her lap to Squall's tiled floor. Walking over to where Squall was sitting, Mandy had hopes that Squall would listen to what she had to say. He had coldly ignored her, whenever she had started a conversation that didn't involve their science assessment. But even when she had started friendly conversations regarding their assessment, Squall didn't really say much, he only nodded his head slightly or mumbled 'Hmph' every once in a while.

Her head above Squall's, Mandy leaned down, her lips just inches away from his ear. She could smell him too. It wasn't a sweaty smell that had been sprayed with deodorant, but a clean, fresh masculine smell that seemed to define Squall perfectly.

"Hey Squall, what would happen, if Rinoa regained her memory?" asked Mandy serenely, knowing that Squall would be speechless at what she asked. And she was right, her question had caught Squall off guard and he was now silent.

"I…I don't think that's any of your business," said Squall shortly. Mandy curved her lips into a half smirk.

_Flashback _

"_So, exactly what are you saying Zell?" a younger Mandy asked the spiky blonde haired boy. Zell cocked an eyebrow, not believing that Mandy didn't understand what he was saying. _

_Both of them were in Balamb High's library, where the two had bumped into each other whilst looking up books for their assignment. Zell had taken this opportunity to tell Mandy to be careful when she was dating Squall. _

"_You know what I mean Mandy," said Zell, his arms folded in front of his muscular chest. Mandy looked at him, an amused look on her pretty porcelain like face. _

"_You're telling me not to break _his _heart?" asked Mandy with a small girlish giggle as she brushed strands of her blonde hair out of her face. Zell looked at her sharply, thinking that she would be taking this more seriously. _

"_Damn straight I am. You saw what happened to him after you know, what happened to Rinoa. It's not as if Rinoa broke his heart or anything, she just…well, forgot about him and refuses to listen to what he has to say. So don't break his heart," said Zell through clenched teeth. Mandy tilted her head to one side, a wistful look on her face. _

"_Shouldn't _I _be the one who's afraid that Squall's going to break my heart? Anyways…don't sweat Zell, I won't break his heart," said Mandy placing her hand on his arm, locking her hazel eyes with his eyes. "I love him," said Mandy in a higher, softer tone. _

_End Flashback _

"Come on Squall. You and I both know it; even though you won't acknowledge that you know it too. Rinoa's going to regain her memories back someday and remember that you were the so called 'obnoxious, cocky, arrogant and rich' guy she always loathed. Oh and by the way, did I forget to mention, her childhood sweetheart too?"

Squall acted as if Mandy's words weren't even spoken, but as much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew that Mandy was right. Rinoa would someday regain her memory, after telling him that she had had many flashbacks and some dizzy spells, that had worried him at first, but he hadn't shown it. After Rinoa was discharged from the hospital and was back at Balamb High, he had approached her several times, hoping that she would 'remember' him again. But she had brushed him off coldly and then, afterwards called the people that he sat with and himself included the 'arrogant, rich, player snobs who date a new girl every two weeks' and the girls that also sat with his group, 'the bitchy, skanky, sluts who have nothing better to do than to break someone's life'.

Over time, Rinoa had grown to loathe Squall, hating him and his group for mistreating people and supposedly using them. Although in his heart, Squall knew that he still loved Rinoa no matter what she called him, he couldn't bring himself to accept it. So instead, he began to act cold to everyone and his friends came up with the conclusion that Squall also secretly loathed Rinoa.

_Stop that_, Squall said to himself. _I don't want to think about it anymore. _

"I think Mandy, that this is a suitable time for you to leave," said Squall coldly, acting as if Mandy hadn't said anything. Mandy's lovely face, crinkled up and made her resemble a bulldog. "Squall, one way or another, Rinoa will remember and you can't stop that!"

Spinning on her heel, Mandy left in a huff, totally forgetting that her science textbook was still on Squall's bedroom floor.

Squall continued on typing and before long, took his hands off the keyboard and slumped back down on his seat. _One way or another, Rinoa will remember and you can't stop that! _Mandy's words ran through his mind, causing his icy blue eyes to look even colder and his eyebrows to furrow.

_Rinoa…I don't want you to remember…_thought Squall, a pained look on his handsome face as he looked outside his window, the trees blowing gently in unison with the wind and the leaves swaying before slowly making their journey down.

* * *

"You know, I think I won't ever visit a psychic, fortune teller or whatever, ever again," remarked Rinoa. Samantha just laughed and patted Rinoa on the back reassuringly. "It'll be ok Rinoa, just wait til she comes, which I hope won't be any longer,"

From the way Seifer had spoken about the fortune teller, Rinoa was expecting a creepy, haunted place with pillows and all the regular things that fortune tellers had. But so far, this place seemed pretty normal. It was just a small, Victorian style building with some old, lanky trees covering some of the windows. So far, it didn't seem peculiar at all.

Samantha sat herself down on a cushion laden couch and gestured to Rinoa to take a seat down next to her. Rinoa placed her hands to smooth her skirt, so that when she sat down, it wouldn't crease. Sitting down on the couch, Rinoa relaxed and let out a sigh.

Remembering what she intended to ask Samantha from earlier, Rinoa opened her mouth and spoke. "Um, Samantha?" Samantha looked in her direction, a calm and cool look on her face. "Are…are you _dating_ Seifer?" Samantha blinked a couple of times, before throwing her head back and laughing. Now it was Rinoa's turn to blink in confusion. After finishing her laugh-a-thon, Samantha placed a hand in front of her mouth and coughed slightly.

"Let me ask you this Rinoa. Do Seifer and I look like your typical boyfriend and girlfriend?" asked Samantha inquiringly, causing Rinoa to stop and think.

_Hmmmm…well, they argued quite a lot today and I'm pretty sure that they were like this before I came to Deling Academy…Samantha seemed pretty relaxed and casual when she kicked Seifer's…um, rude area. And Seifer seems to have a thing to debating with Samantha, and also they're not at all, in any way, like Squall and me…I should've thought about this, _before_ asking…_

"Not really Sammie," admitted Rinoa. Samantha gave the raven haired beauty sitting next to her a small smile. "Seifer and I are just _too_ different to ever maintain a relationship other than just friends,"

Rinoa nodded, but Samantha sensed that that wasn't the answer that she was looking for. "Did you want me and Seifer to date? If I bring it up into a conversation tomorrow, won't you think that Seifer and I will get into another debate over it?" asked Samantha, making Rinoa laugh a little. But before she could say anything, a curly brown haired woman dressed in fancy robes of lilac and large golden hoops adorned her ears. Overall, she didn't seem like any of the creepy, freaky fortune tellers that she had heard about. In fact, this woman seemed normal, besides the lilac robes that she was wearing.

Rinoa looked uncertainly at Samantha, while she averted her gaze between the raven haired girl next to her and the curly brown haired woman. Samantha mouthed 'Don't worry, it'll be fine' to Rinoa. Rinoa nodded, but wasn't so sure if it would be fine.

"Hello Samantha dear. Its been quite a while since you've come for a reading," said the woman pleasantly, gesturing to the large, multi coloured pile of throw cushions on her cream coloured carpet. Samantha didn't say anything, but slid off the couch and onto the soft, patterned pillows. Rinoa followed her lead, after the woman eyed her mysteriously.

The woman then took a seat opposite from the two raven beauties, a small coffee table, divided between them. Setting her hands onto the table, Rinoa spotted many little baubles on her hand.

"Have you come to ask about what will happen in your love life, dear?" purred the woman, her misty eyes focused on Samantha. Rinoa turned her head around to look at Samantha.

"What the f-?" started Samantha, but she was cut off short by Rinoa. "Please don't swear Sams," requested Rinoa, who swore every now and then, but hated to hear people swear. Samantha shut her mouth, but soon after, opened them again.

"No Nina…I came with my friend Rinoa, just so that she can have her fortune told," said Samantha. Nina's eyes averted to Rinoa. Her pale blue eyes looked at her as if she didn't trust Rinoa at all. Rinoa managed to curve her rosy lips into a small, warm smile.

"I'll get my cards then," said Nina shortly, pulling out a deck of what looked like tarot cards out from underneath the table.

(**A/N: **Forgive me if all the details about the fortune telling seem weird, but I've never actually been to one before!)

"She deciphers cards and tells you what will happen in the near future and what is going on right under your nose that you don't know about," whispered Samantha.

Sliding the cards over the coffee table in Rinoa's direction, Nina's blue eyes never stopped gazing at Rinoa.

Not having much experience with fortune tellers, Rinoa simply stared at the neat pile of cards sitting in front of her. Samantha didn't do much to help either, she kept quiet.

"You're meant to shuffle the tarot cards dear, then pick one out and let me decipher it," explained Nina. Lifting a hand up, Rinoa proceeded to pick up the deck and shuffle it.

After several minutes of shuffling, Rinoa laid the cards down in its place and picked a card out and handed it over to Nina. Samantha, who had been used to this process, coughed a bit and placed a hand over her mouth. Tilting her head to one side, parts of her fringe came down and covered her eye.

Taking the card and studying it, Nina's face turned from stern to sheer shock, which she did a good job at covering up.

"Rinoa…someone close to you, but not your friend…is plotting against you. It will be a rocky road for you, but by the end of the year, everything will fall into place," said Nina unsteadily. Samantha listened, Nina's words flowing through her mind.

_Great. There must be a billion people who think they're close to me, but they're not my friend. Come to think of it, that girl, Cassandra, she didn't seem to like me at all. She ignored me completely, but did manage to cheerfully greet Samantha and Seifer. Is it her Nina's talking about? _

"Pick out another card Rinoa," said Samantha automatically, speaking out for the first time, since she had explained to Rinoa what Nina does. A cheerless look on Rinoa's face, she swiftly picked out a card from near the bottom of the deck and handed it over to Nina. As Nina took the card, one of her stunning baubles scratched Rinoa's hand. _Ouch…_

Her blue eyes studying the cards, Samantha had expected it to be something bad. And it was. Her pale blue eyes widened and she slowly set the card that was in her hand down.

"Is it something…bad?" asked Rinoa inquiringly. Nina acted as if Rinoa hadn't asked that question at all and went on to tell Rinoa what the card had meant, because they each had their own meanings.

"You're…you're…you're wasting your time on something that won't last!" cried Nina. Both Samantha and Rinoa were taken back on her outburst.

"Excuse me, what do you mean?" asked Rinoa politely. Nina looked at Rinoa helplessly. "My dear…I mean that you're wasting all of your time on a boy that won't be around for long…"

_What in Hyne's name are you talking about? All the time I _waste _on Squall is something that will last. That's it, I want out_, thought Rinoa.

"Um, ok," mumbled Rinoa. Sensing that her friend was uncomfortable and probably wanted to go home, Samantha thanked Nina and placed some Gil on the table and then politely excused the two of them so that they could go home.

Samantha's hand was holding onto Rinoa's arm, just in case that she wouldn't stumble over.

_Flashback _

"_Did you want to get rid of her that badly Seifer?" asked Samantha as she smoothed out invisible crinkles in her light grey skirt. Seifer rolled his eyes. _

"_No, I didn't. It just feels weird, having to go to the same school as her and all again," _

"_Right," said Samantha cheerfully. _

_Or maybe because I feel uncomfortable being around her, thought Seifer. _

"_Just look out for her, will you? When she's shocked, confused, and uncomfortable or whatever, she tends to do stupid things," drawled Seifer, a smirk on his face. _

_Samantha nodded and leaned her head against a tree behind her. "Are you worried about her?" _

_Seifer managed a small snort and looked long and hard at the raven haired girl sitting near to him. Flicking a small bug off his hand, he replied, "Why would I be?" _

_End Flashback _

"Is she usually that…shocking?" asked Rinoa wistfully as she walked down some steps. Samantha cocked her head. "No, no. Normally, she acts quite professional. It's not like her to be so…_dramatic,_"

Sprinkles of rain then fell from the sky and dropped onto Samantha and Rinoa's hair.

* * *

As Rinoa opened the door to her mansion, she could already hear another argument brew between her new family. _Oh joy…the downpour of rain wasn't enough to deafen me. But now, my family? Pure joy. _

"Why didn't you at least _call me_? You should've at least given me some sort of idea that you were studying with a friend! Here I was, thinking the worst Amanda. How am I meant to _know_ that you're off studying with a friend, when you don't even tell me?" cried Amber from the living room. Rinoa wiped her shoes on the mat, before taking them off and placing house slippers onto her feet, a faintly amused look on her face.

"Mother, I'm not going to be _kidnapped _or _raped_!" shouted Mandy in response.

"How am I meant to know _that_!"

"You're just keeping me from living my life. Why don't you do this, do that, _why don't you be more like Rinoa. _Stop comparing me to _her! _I'm sorry that I can't be perfect Mother, but stop making me be like her, when I'm not her at all. Stay out of my life! You've done nothing but make it miserable for me!" screamed Mandy as she hastily turned around and exited the living room. Not wanting to look like she was eavesdropping or even _enjoying _the little entertainment show, Rinoa pretended to act as if she was just placing away her shoes.

"Oh hello Rinoa," said Mandy monotonously and made her way up the stairs, to her bedroom Rinoa presumed.

At this moment, Rinoa didn't mind being lectured by her father and his fiancée about staying out late after school without telling them and getting her whole jumper and silky raven hair drenched.

As she entered the room, Rinoa was astounded to be met with a dog jumping into her arms. The brown and white furred dog playfully licked her wet face and was panting excitedly.

"I'm really, really sorry that I came home late Amber and Father. I can explain, but first, what's this?" asked Rinoa, referring to the dog in her arms. It wasn't a puppy, yet it wasn't quite a fully grown dog either.

"It's _your _dog Rinoa. Your father bought him for you, because he knew that you've wanted one ever since you were 12 years old. Consider him a birthday present for all the birthdays that your father's missed," said Amber exhaustedly as she leaned back down on the luxurious white leather couch.

"_My _dog?" said Rinoa to herself. _I don't remember ever wanting a dog since I was 12…but, if Father went through all this trouble to buy me him…_

"Aren't you going to scream at me for not calling home to tell you where I've been and also being sort of drenched?" Rinoa couldn't help but ask. Amber looked up at Rinoa and shook her head, her smooth looking brown hair shaking too and fell back down to her shoulders, in lovely long layers.

"Dinner's already been prepared and is in the kitchen, eat whenever you feel like it," said Amber as she left the living room.

"That's weird…I thought that the stepmother from hell would've wanted to tell me off, like in those old dramas, where the stepmother would've just randomly yelled at the poor daughter for something like…beating her own beloved daughter in an exam," whispered Rinoa to the dog, so that Amber wouldn't have heard her from another room.

Hugging the warm dog close to her chest, Rinoa walked out of the living room and up to her bedroom to dry off.

* * *

_I can't concentrate on this piece of homework anymore…I know that I can do this, but why can't I? _

A lovely light blonde haired girl with the prettiest, big blue eyes was sitting down on a seat, by her study table. Her arm was propped up against the table and all her schoolbooks, textbooks, assessment task sheets and pages of homework were scattered around her usually insanely neat table. Her glasses were askew and she simply took them off and put them on her nightstand.

She paid a lot of attention in class and always knew what to do with her homework, but this particular evening, she couldn't seem to concentrate or even get one question done.

Quistis Trepe sighed heavily as she dropped her black pen down onto the table, finding it difficult to focus on her homework. Even though before she looked like she was in deep thought to anyone who happened to see her, she wasn't. Mixed thoughts were running through her, making it tough to stay on task.

_Please…oh please Hyne, tell me that I'm not in love with him, _thought Quistis, a single tear dripping from her eye and staining her cheek.

For the past couple of weeks, Quistis had been doing some deep thinking and was exploring her deepest feelings, the ones that she had tried hard to avoid until now. Everyone around her seemed to have someone at the moment and she couldn't help but feel left out. Her old group of friends were all genuine, caring people that she held close to her heart and she would always keep them close, even if she wasn't hanging with their group anymore. She felt guilty for having these feelings, which were too hard to conceal for any longer.

_I'm meant to be her friend, I shouldn't be feeling this way at all_, Quistis silently scolded herself.

_She deserves him…she really does. It was hard for the two of them to separate and I know that. They both put hard efforts in to make their relationship work, but why the heck am I feeling this way! I feel like I'm being betrayed when they're together…I know that I should smile for them both, but I can't…Not anymore…The two of them…they don't seem right together. I'm such a bad friend for thinking this! I'm so sorry! _

With a small, forced smile, more tears streamed down Quistis' now blush pink cheeks. _I'm in love with Squall…_


	15. A Reason to Love

**Hatred to Love **

**A/N: **It's been so long since I updated! (I've been busy with a lot of things…) And along with a lot of expectations and hopes for this year, I hope to finish this story at least before I'm 15 (which is in 8 months time) Now that all of the things that I've planned are almost over, I can finally write what I've been meaning to write since I started this story almost two years ago…I hope that you guys still have faith in this story.

**Chapter 15 – A Reason to Love **

"Just what should I name you?" Rinoa asked her energetic brown and white dog, tilting her head to one side to think. After her shower, she had blow dried her jet black hair, making it all thick, warm and smooth, but dry. She had eaten dinner already and brushed her sparkly white teeth, so now she was free to do whatever she wanted to do. Dressed in pyjama pants, a light pink satin singlet top and a bath robe, Rinoa was lying on her stomach on top of her bed sheets. The dog licked her face again, causing Rinoa to burst out laughing. Even though she didn't have her dog for that long, he could already easily make her laugh and smile like she truly meant it.

Stroking the dog's head tenderly, Rinoa had a look of utter adoration on her face. When she was younger, she had always wanted a younger sibling or at least something to look after. A younger brother or sister was out of the question, with her mother being too busy to look after a child (because she had always insisted that a child be looked after its own mother, instead of nannies, like her other peers in the celebrity world) and didn't want to become pregnant just to patch up her marriage to Richard, because at that point, they were already close to divorcing and a baby born just to save a marriage wasn't what Julia wanted at all. Her parents didn't want to get Rinoa something to look after, because sooner or later, the pet would die and leave Rinoa in grief and seeing their daughter upset, hurt them the most.

_Maybe this is Father's way of trying to convince me that living with him is better than living with Mum…That's it! I know what to name you now! If only you were a girl doggy, I could name you Angel, but since you're not, Angelo is fine. Suits you too, you _look _like an Angelo. _

"How do you like being called Angelo?" cooed Rinoa softly. Angelo barked gleefully in agreement to his owner's question. Pulling the dog closer to her, Rinoa nuzzled her own nose against his warm, furry body. "Then it's settled. Welcome to the Caraway family Angelo!"

Rain continued to drizzle outside, but not as heavy as it was before. Thunder had begun to demonstrate its severity, by lighting up the dark, cloudy night sky from time to time. Rinoa and Angelo took no notice of this however; the two of them were playfully fooling around on her princess canopy bed, not bothered about the rain outside at all.

_At least now, I have an excuse to get away from all those family times we seem to have now, _mused Rinoa as she scratched the top of Angelo's head adoringly.

* * *

Several weeks had passed since the first day of term 2 and yet, it seemed like more than a year. Rinoa had been too busy with schoolwork (assessments, studying for exams and homework) and after school outings with Samantha and sometimes Seifer to remember to stay in contact with her Balamb friends. It wasn't intentionally; she just had a feeling that they'd be fine without her there. Rinoa didn't feel the way she did at the beginning of term, always constantly worrying about her friends and considering moving back to Balamb High because she missed it and them so much. Now she was very much used to being at Deling Academy and had already moved on so much that she couldn't even look back at her past.

Rinoa never really saw much of her friends from Balamb and now, rarely even saw Squall…occasionally, she called him, but all she could talk about was how her life was becoming more difficult and also about things happening at Deling Academy, but she left out the bits about Seifer, because she didn't want her boyfriend to think that the reason that she wasn't contacting him much, was because she was busy spending time with Seifer (and Samantha).

Back at Balamb High, Selphie, Zell, Irvine and Squall (but mainly the other three) were partially struggling to move on. Without Quistis, everything seemed to not be right at all. Sure if she had come back to the group, it wouldn't be the same as it used to be, because they had steadily moved on, but when she did come back to visit, the atmosphere had felt tense and heavy. Quistis was still pretty much the same blonde haired, blue eyed Quistis, but when she came back, it was as if a stranger was intruding.

School life at Deling Academy for Rinoa was going well, with her topping most of her classes. She spent a lot of her time away from home after school, because she couldn't stand being around her stepmother or her stepsister, but knowing that Mandy regularly visited her closest one hundred buddies after school and with Amber working until 4 and her own dear father working until late at night, Rinoa regularly stopped home after school to pick up Angelo and took him with her to outings after school with Samantha. When he was bothered to, or didn't want to put up with his bothersome parents, Seifer would join them too. She knew that with her year 10 exams drawing closer, she should start revising her work to prepare for it, but she couldn't concentrate at home and instead of going to the library to study, she ran away from all her problems by going out with Samantha after school. It wasn't deliberate; Rinoa just didn't want to face the problems that were thrust to her. But a part of her also felt scared; scared that Squall and the others had moved on. She knew that she had to move on…there was nothing else she could do.

Deep down, Rinoa still missed Balamb High, but she knew that if she kept lingering on the past, she would never feel comfortable. She needed to move on; no she _had _to move on. Dwelling in the past would only make her miserable and she didn't want to fake any more smiles onto her face and pretend that everything was just lovely when it wasn't.

It was a different story for Squall. He didn't feel like talking much to his friends. Correction, he _never_ felt like talking much to his friends. But since Rinoa stepped back into his life, she had affected him in so many ways. Now that she wasn't there with him, everything was back to before he had gotten together with Rinoa. None of them could possibly understand how he felt without Rinoa. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he missed her company terribly. He missed her cheerfulness, her sweet and cheeky smiles, how she'd try to make him talk more and open up to the world that he had shunned for so long, everything about her that made him feel better he missed. Just everything that made her Rinoa, he missed. He didn't try to show that he missed Rinoa at all, but Zell, Selphie and Irvine knew it and they didn't press any questions against him.

Zell, Irvine and Selphie had to make sure that any conversation that they had didn't involve Rinoa or was going to steer to her, because as much as they missed her, they didn't want to continue to cling onto something that was no longer there anymore.

Selphie didn't want to come clean, but she felt partially responsible about Quistis' departure to go back to her former group of friends. Just a couple of weeks before, she had confessed to Zell that she disliked the blonde girl, because of her always complaining and never really doing anything much for herself. Although she hadn't told Zell this, she had yearned for Quistis to leave their group as well. Now, she felt guilty, thinking that it was her fault for making Quistis leave. She hid it well though, through her attractive smiles that made her emerald green eyes light up. But she hated faking her smiles and cheerfulness, just like Rinoa.

* * *

"Whoa, wonder who the hot guy in front of the limo is," Rinoa could hear Pamela mumble in awe. Samantha could only roll her eyes. Students were exiting Deling Academy's school building in packs as the anticipated end of the day had come at last. As Rinoa and Samantha were leaving, they could hear Pamela gush about some hot guy to her clique of equally bitchy and stuck up friends.

"To her, every guy in front of a limo is hot. Personally, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that the 'hot' guy is just a chauffer or some kind of hired help; that'll put dear ol' Pam in trauma for a while," murmured Samantha, earning a giggle or two out of Rinoa.

"Where's Seifer? I thought he was going to come with us," said Rinoa, just noticing that the moody, short blonde haired boy wasn't there with them. She then smoothed out some invisible wrinkles out of her light grey skirt.

"He said something about attending a detention after school," said Samantha automatically as she brushed strands of her sleek black hair out of her face. Noticing an anxious look on Rinoa's face, she added, "Don't fret Rinny, I'm pretty sure that he was lying to avoid shopping with us again," Rinoa couldn't help but muster a small smile.

"Tell you what, if it cheers you up, let's go see who that hot guy in front of the limo is," said Samantha in hopes of getting her friend's mind off Seifer. Rinoa smiled and they both walked off to where Pamela was standing with a couple of her snobby friends, dreamy expressions on all of their faces.

"He wasn't a chauffer or hired help after all, damn it," grumbled Samantha. Rinoa laughed, but stopped short after she saw who the guy actually was. The ice blue eyes, the short and floppy brown hair, the Balamb High uniform with sleeves rolled up and the unemotional face…It was Squall. Her eyes turned wide as she felt the cool afternoon breeze brush lightly against her blush pink cheeks. Rinoa simply didn't know how to react. She and Squall weren't the typical couple; their relationship was more pure and special than your average relationship. The two of them weren't the type to want to see each other every single day, period just because they weren't attending the same high school anymore. Rinoa felt as if her legs were permanently glued to the smoothly paved footpath. _Squall…I've missed you so much, but I've…I've moved on. I still love you, but why are you here?_

"Is he…Squall?" asked Samantha quietly, focusing her light brown eyes on the ground. Rinoa looked at her friend, the shocked look still on her face. During her time so far at Deling Academy, she didn't think that there actually was a time where she had mentioned her old friends from Balamb or even Squall.

"How…how do you know about Squall?" asked Rinoa at last. Samantha looked at Squall before looking back at Rinoa. "Connections. I met him once at a dinner party a while ago; my father knows his father,"

_Does the world get any smaller…? _

Squall saw Rinoa talking to a raven haired girl that was around the same height as she was. He knew that Rinoa had seen him, but he knew that she'd come over to him when she was ready. He secretly hoped that Rinoa would hurt up and not take her sweet time, because he couldn't stand being ogled like he was part of an exhibition at the zoo.

_That other raven haired girl…is she that Samantha girl? I think I've seen her one time…maybe it was at the dinner party in Esthar last year? _

"Hey Rinoa, the limo's here, are you gonna come or not?" Samantha obviously didn't know about Rinoa's relationship with Squall.

Rinoa didn't have to think twice about deciding. She could go out after school with Samantha anytime, but it wasn't everyday that her own boyfriend surprises her after school.

"Sorry Sams, but something came up," said Rinoa as she made her way over to Squall, who was patiently waiting for her. When she got to him, that's when she realised that she missed him more than she knew it. Not caring that people from her school could be watching, she whispered to Squall, "Sorry if this embarrasses you Squally," and with that, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Rinoa could hear Pamela and her clique gasp in shock, but all she could do was giggle quietly.

Squall who didn't like any form of public display of affection, merely took his cerulean blue eyes away from the students that were observing the two of them embrace. After the unexpected hug from Rinoa, Squall opened the door to his limo and Rinoa hopped in and Squall followed in after her, shutting the door after him and locking it just in case.

The limo pulled away from Deling Academy and much to Squall's relief, all the bystanders and the hormone crazy teenage girls. Rinoa was sitting right next to him; she hadn't changed that much, except maybe that her uniform was now grey instead of navy and white but she still had the same angelic expression on her lovely face and had the same caring, fun loving, affectionate and loving aura around her.

"You're just the sweetest Squall; I've never heard of any guy surprising his girlfriend after school the way that you just did," gushed Rinoa with a grin as she slipped her lily white hand into Squall's.

All he could do was shrug casually. Wanting to push their chat to another direction, Rinoa asked about how their friends in Balamb. "How's the gang in Balamb?"

"…Pretty much the same," Was all Squall could say. There was more that he wanted to say, much more. But maybe it was because he was afraid that Rinoa had changed. Although she looked the same and acted the same, there was something different about her that he just couldn't lay his finger on.

"Oh…" Rinoa's eyes averted to where her black designer shoulder bag was lying on the leather seat beside her. She wanted to question him about their friends, but Squall didn't seem to be in the mood for a long conversation. Sure Rinoa had moved on, but she still cared about her friends and missed them a whole lot more than they knew it. If Squall had said 'They miss you a lot' then Rinoa would've felt a bit better knowing that they missed her and remembered her as a friend. But in her mind she knew that if they missed her, they couldn't really move on either. Missing someone wouldn't bring them back, but if you knew that someone missed you, it would've made you feel better knowing that they still remembered you and thought about you and didn't just forget about you completely.

_Please Hyne; please don't tell me that I've made her cry. The first time I've seen her since break and I've probably made her cry. Good on you Leonhart, at least you've discovered another talent – making your girlfriend cry. _

"Where are we going anyway?" asked Rinoa curiously. She didn't want to have to get angry at her boyfriend, just because he didn't say that their friends missed her. When Squall looked at her tearless face, he felt a wave of relief as she didn't seem to show any traces of crying at all.

Wanting to keep it a secret so that it would surprise Rinoa when they eventually got to their destination, Squall just said, "Somewhere that you'll like Rinoa,"

_No way…Squall's not taking me shopping for a really early birthday present is he? Haha, I better not keep my hopes up _too_ much. _

After that, Squall and Rinoa didn't remember much about their limo ride to wherever Squall knew they were going. Rinoa wanted to talk, but knowing her boyfriend didn't want to talk, she just nestled her head against his shoulder, a pensive look on her face.

_I really appreciate him for doing this…he went out of his way to take me somewhere…I wonder why though…_

Rinoa bit her lower lip. _Squall…why do you do the things that you do? Why do you do all these things that I don't ask of you? Oh Squall…I never knew how much I actually missed you! I'm such a bad girlfriend for not remembering to see you or even call you a lot! You must've thought that I moved on without you, didn't you Squall? Things certainly aren't the way that they were and I know that. I wish that you'd tell me how you feel. I wish that you'd open up more to me. If we could go back to the way things were, I'd do that, but we can't; I can't. Is this how you felt Squall? All the loneliness, bitterness and sadness that I'm feeling? _

Then without notice, Rinoa buried her head deeper into Squall's shoulder and wrapper her arms around his waist. Squall immediately looked down and saw his girlfriend embracing him. He could hear her quietly weeping and wondered what the matter was. Squall stroked her soft jet black hair.

Without hesitation, he asked, "Rinoa…what's the matter?"

Rinoa looked up at him with slightly teary eyes, her arms still wrapped tightly around him.

"I'm sorry Squall! I'm just…so sorry," mumbled Rinoa as small tears formed and slid down her cheeks. Squall draped his arm around her slender shoulders and hugged her closer to him.

"What are you sorry for Rinoa?"

Rinoa bit her lip in an attempt to stop her tears from flowing out. "Everything! I forget to call you, I forget to make plans to meet you…I'm sorry for everything that I've caused you to feel! It's my fault Squall! Everything's my fault!" wept Rinoa as she cried into his chest.

"Don't think like that Rinoa; nothing's your fault…" said Squall vaguely as he kissed the top of Rinoa's head.

Rinoa shook her head. "Can't you see Squall? It wasn't _me _who met up with you after school, it was _you_. I feel guilty for not even attempting to meet up with you. I was _scared_, scared that you've moved on…"

Squall blinked as Rinoa's words sunk into him. _I was _scared_, scared that you've moved on…_

_She feels the same way too…_

Then, in a tone that he didn't recognize, Squall murmured softly, "Don't cry Rinoa, don't cry,"

Visits after school and on weekends wouldn't make things the way that they were. Nothing would. But knowing that Rinoa was scared of him moving on made Squall a little relieved. Rinoa had affected in more ways than anyone could. Her free spirit, aura and appreciation for everything around her had swayed him away from his post-accident behavior. In every way Mandy was just like Rinoa until she was heavily influenced by the 'sluts', but he didn't love her the way that he had loved Rinoa. After the accident, he had felt like nothing. His twin sister lost her life; Rinoa had lost her memory, yet Squall had both his life and his memory.

He felt worthless, just like a piece of trash that had been tossed carelessly onto the side of the road. No one seemed to understand him, not even Sis. His life wasn't worth living anymore, he had thought. But after seeing a new light, Rinoa had stepped back into his life, when everyone else had stepped out and gave him many reasons to embrace life, to live it to your fullest and just to live everyday like it was your last. She also gave him another reason; a reason to love.

* * *

"Make sure that the bridesmaids' bouquets match their dresses. What colour were their dresses again? Pale pink. Can your staff make sure that the flowers in the bridesmaids' bouquets are not too elaborate? Good, thank you," Amber had the cordless phone in one hand and a notepad and pen in the other. She was finalizing the flower displays, bouquets and the flower girls' baskets for her upcoming wedding to Richard Caraway.

_I can't believe that I'm actually going to get married to him…this all seems too good to be true…_

Hanging up with the florist, Amber set the phone down on her office table and sighed. There were too many things to be organized and to be done and Amber had feelings that everything wouldn't be prepared in time for her wedding.

Because Julia Heartilly, Richard's ex-wife was a celebrity, their divorce was quite high profile and set a lot of headlines around the world. And behind every divorce, were also rumours about the breakup. Many rumours circulated and there were many theories in relation to Julia and Richard's end to their 'fairytale' marriage. The worst one was Richard cheating on Julia with Amber, making Amber look like a 'marriage-wrecker'. Of course, she hadn't been the woman that Richard had cheated on, because it was a mutual decision that Julia and Richard had made to end their marriage. She had suspected that some of Julia's loyal fans had started that rumour, because she was an old acquaintance of Richard and was often photographed leaving Richard's office or leaving café's with him. There was an explanation for that: Amber used to work with him, but had quit from that place and usually visited him to see how he was coping after the marriage meltdown and also frequently took him out for a cup of coffee afterwards at a swanky cafe.

Amber had endured a lot of pain and suffered a lot in order to get where she was today. With her own daughter Amanda or as she liked to be called, 'Mandy' acting more and more like a spoiled little brat who knew nothing more nowadays than to be rude, misbehave and be disobedient, this just added to Amber's list of never ending problems. Trying to not be the wicked stepmother to her stepdaughter Rinoa wasn't going well either. In Rinoa's view, it was because of Amber and her father's secret affair that had torn her parents' marriage in half. Not being a person to loathe her elders, Rinoa usually forced herself to be polite and friendly to Amber, but Amber knew that Rinoa wasn't comfortable at all with her or Mandy around the house and with her father marrying the woman that was 'held responsible' for her parents' bitter divorce.

Pulling the elastic hair band out from her light chestnut brown hair and shaking her head so her soft, thinned hair fell down onto her shoulders, Amber felt her head feel a little lighter. Sinking down into her black leather chair, Amber inhaled deeply and steadily exhaled.

A lot of things were on her mind. Sure to others, it might just be daughter is more and more rude as the days go by, stepdaughter dislikes you, wedding preparations and the usual 'It's your fault Julia's marriage ended!' and 'You ended her marriage and now you're marrying her ex-husband! Have some shame woman!' But to Amber, it was much more than just that.

_At this rate, I'll be grateful if we even manage to make it to our wedding day…_

Picking up her cordless phone again, she dialed Mandy's mobile number, to tell her that she'd be home late tonight. Holding the phone up to her ear, she could hear it ring. It rang, rang and rang until a female voice spoke.

_The person you are trying to call is unavailable at the moment, please leave a message after the beep…beep_

Knowing her daughter well, if you couldn't contact her in the first place, then she'd probably never listen to her voicemail either. Pressing the 'end' button on the sleek black and silver phone, Amber hung up.

Her gaze came over to a framed photograph of her and Mandy, placed near her laptop computer. Amber couldn't help but gather together a smile on her face. It wasn't of sheer happiness, but the fact that she was much happier before she had become engaged to Richard.

_I wonder if this is what I really want…is this marriage going to make anyone happy at all? _

Amber's eyes then shifted over to a large window, where the clear blue sky was slowly altering to a mixture of red, yellow and orange streaks. It was such a beautiful sight and it took Amber's mind off the things that she was always constantly worrying about these days.

* * *

When the limo suddenly stopped, Squall opened the limo's door, got out himself and gestured to Rinoa to come out as well. Not sure of what to expect, Rinoa took her sweet time exiting the limo gracefully, like her mother had taught her to.

The calm, relaxing feel of Balamb hit her as she clutched onto Squall's outstretched hand. In her mind, she was thinking of how grateful she was to have a boyfriend like Squall who knew that she missed her old home and school and took action, rather than whisking her off for a romantic after school date and then without realising it, Rinoa lost her balance and fell into Squall's arms. With one arm already being held tightly by Rinoa, Squall's quick reflexes immediately came in and he held out his other arm and caught her in his arms.

Burying her head deep into his muscular chest, Rinoa sighed. Taking it the wrong way, Squall thought that she didn't like being dragged off by her boyfriend all the way to Balamb, when she could've been hanging out with that other raven haired girl, Samantha or whatever the girl's name was.

"You're so sweet Squall…you took time off just to take me here…you shouldn't have though…but why…why Balamb beach?"

"…I…I thought that you might've…liked it," mumbled Squall as he tried hard not to be squeezed to death by Rinoa.

Looking up to her boyfriend's handsome face, she smiled sweetly with that pure, innocent and angelic face of hers. A small, half-smile was returned to her.

_I love him…I really do. I just hope that he feels the same way that I do…Oh Squall…even if we've only been together for a short amount of time; I feel like I've known you and loved you forever. I don't care that you're nothing like the other guys, you're you and that's what you'll always be. My heart feels like it's going to burst right now…_

Taking his hand, Rinoa hauled him along for a stroll on the beach with her. It was a cool, breezy autumn afternoon and not a single person was in sight at Balamb Beach. For some unknown reason, Squall was thankful that the two of them had the beach all to themselves. The clear blue green waters seemed to be glimmering at its best and the creamy white coloured sand felt smooth underneath their tight black school shoes.

After minutes of walking along the crystal clear waters, Rinoa brought the brisk walk to an end. Squall glanced down at Rinoa, wondering what she was going to do now. Rinoa had sat herself down on the lush white sand and pulled off her tight black shoes and then, her knee high white socks.

Arranging her shoes and socks neatly (because she wasn't a slob and liked everything to be neat and perfect), Rinoa got up and smiled cheekily at her confused boyfriend.

"Aw, come on Squall. When was the last time you took a walk on the beach wearing _your school shoes_?" teased Rinoa playfully. Squall looked down at his own tight black shoes. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Rinoa was right. Whenever they had gone to the beach, he either wore thongs or walked around barefoot, but with his long, baggy school pants basically covered up his legs and feet, yet somehow, Rinoa managed to get his pants drenched with water.

Sighing, he sat himself down on the soft white sand beside Rinoa and took off his shoes and socks and arranged them near Rinoa's own shoes and socks. When he was done, he had found that Rinoa wasn't beside him at all. Thinking that she was playing a silly little joke on him, he craned his neck and searched up and down the beach with his piercing cerulean blue eyes for a certain raven haired girl…

Hearing the sounds of water splashing and the sound of running feet against the sand, Squall knew immediately where to look.

His electric blue eyes moved over to where Rinoa was frolicking with the chilly waters of Balamb beach. It was a fairly cool day and certainly not a time to be getting yourself wet when you didn't have proper clothes to change into afterwards. But did Rinoa care? No.

Watching his one and only true love with a pure look of happiness and joy on her face made him want to smile; they had been through so much together and this day only showed a fraction of their bliss together.

_I wonder…if now is the right time for me to tell her how I feel. I never got the chance to say it when we were younger, but is now the right time? _

A pensive look on his usally solemn face, Squall was in deep thought. _I want to say it…but I can't…_

His thoughts washed away like writing on sand, as he felt salty water being splattered onto his face. Knowing who the culprit was without having to think about it, Squall looked up and saw that Rinoa had gotten her skirt and part of her grey jumper wet already. _Figures…she'd easily get herself and her clothes wet when she's within one or two meters of a hose, a sprinkler or anything that has something to do with water. _

A twinkle of mischief in her eyes, a cheeky smile playing on her lips and her hands radiating the shine of the clear beach water, Rinoa had all the evidence that she had splashed water onto Squall's face. A half smirk formed on his face.

"You can't sit there all day lost in your own thoughts. Get up and have some fun already!"

Squall smirked again. Waiting until Rinoa had finished her teasing and had turned her back around revealing a very wet grey jumper, a drenched skirt and trickles of water sliding down her long, slim lily-white legs, Squall decided to accompany Rinoa.

"Ahhhhhh!" Rinoa's shriek could be heard as chilly blue beach water was emptied on her back. Turning around to Squall with a quiver on her lips, Rinoa acted as if she was about to cry. Squall who had no idea that she was just playing around with him, looked at her with an expression that resembled anxiety. Catching him off guard, Rinoa splashed more of the icy water onto Squall's uniform, making the shirt almost see through. Taking off at high speed and occasionally slipping on the sand, Rinoa and Squall spent the rest of the afternoon frolicking together and getting their uniforms even more soaking wet.

* * *

The sun was almost setting and the sky was streaked with several different colours. After playing around with the water (and each other), they had set themselves down on the sand next to each other and watched the beautiful sun depart slowly.

"Ahh…ahh…atchoo!" sneezed Rinoa. Sitting beside her, Squall looked over to his girlfriend and saw that she was freezing cold; her usually rosy lips were turning purple and goose bumps had started to appear on her lily white skin.

"Rinoa, you should've washed yourself off and not continue to stay soaking wet and hope that the sun setting would dry you…" murmured Squall as he stroked some strands of her damp raven black hair out of her heart shaped face. Rinoa's warm chocolate brown eyes looked into his ice blue eyes. Her whole body was trembling and he knew it.

Leaning back and slowly unbuttoning his white sleeved white shirt, Squall still had the cold, hard look on his young handsome face. When he was done, Rinoa had this uneasy feeling, knowing that he could be practically be exposing his bare, muscular chest and risk getting himself sick, while she had his long sleeved shirt and was all warm. Sneaking a peek at him, Rinoa breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Squall was wearing a grey singlet like top underneath that seemed to make his shoulders look broader than they already were and his muscles bigger.

Squall leaned over to Rinoa, about to drape his school shirt onto her slender shoulders, but Rinoa held up both her hands and said, "It's fine, I've got it," Taking the shirt from him, Rinoa slipped both her arms into the long sleeved white shirt and instantly felt warmer.

_You've changed a lot since the start of the year…Squall…_

"Thanks Squall…" said Rinoa inaudibly as she hugged her knees closer to her chest. Squall just mumbled a 'Hmmm," and without warning placed an arm around her slender shoulders, to help keep her warm.

_I really want to tell her how I feel…but is this the right moment? Will she be able to accept it? To her, we've only been together for a few months…but to me, we've been together for much longer…is this the right time? _

"Squall…what do you think about when you watch the sun setting?" Rinoa looked up at him, an innocent look on her heart shaped face.

_I think about how much I want to tell you that I _do _love you…Damn it Leonhart! That's not what you think about when you watch the sun set! You've never even _watched _the sun set before!_

"….I've never watched the sun set before," Was his answer. Rinoa simply smiled and leaned closer to him.

"Really Squall?" Rinoa couldn't help but ask even though she knew the answer already. When Squall nodded his head curtly, Rinoa tilted her head to one side, revealing the natural copper streaks in her raven black hair and smiled a half-smile.

"It's such a beautiful view, I can't believe that you've never actually seen it before," sighed Rinoa.

_This is my opportunity to tell her how I actually feel…but why can't I say it? _

"Squall…thank you…thank you for bringing me back to Balamb and…and taking me to a place that I always wanna go to…" Rinoa leaned up to Squall and brushed her lips against his cheek tenderly.

Rinoa wanted to confess. She wanted to confess her feelings to him…but somewhere deep inside her heart, she had this feeling that he didn't feel the same way that she did. She bit her lower lip. She loved him…she loved him so much that she couldn't put up with it anymore! She wanted to tell him how she really felt, she wanted to be closer to him, to get to know him more, to understand what he was feeling, she wanted to know what was real and what wasn't…she just wanted to know everything about him!

Believing that he didn't want to talk after accidentally drinking some sea water that was splashed into his face by her, she simply snuggled herself against Squall and they both watched the majestic sun set. Rinoa wanted to say something, but she was too wrapped up in Squall's warmth to want to budge.

Although from afar it looked like Squall was enchanted by the sight of the sun setting, he wasn't. His azure blue eyes weren't even focused on the sun. He was in deep thought. He couldn't stop thinking no matter how hard he tried.

_If I don't tell her now…I probably never will get another chance…_

Rather than pondering about telling Rinoa his true feelings, he slowly loosened up and made the most of his precious time with Rinoa. Even if it was just watching something like the sun set. But with Rinoa by his side, he felt at ease.

Time seemed to pass by and working up the courage to say something and not just sit on the warm white sand watching some spherical object depart, Squall cleared his throat and said, "Rinoa…I-…" But he couldn't finish off his sentence. Like a sleeping baby angel, Rinoa had fallen into slumber as quietly as a feather drifting along in rhythm to the breeze. Squall couldn't help but crack a small smile at the sight of Rinoa sleeping.

The sounds of water crashing onto shore made Rinoa stir a little, but as stubborn as she was, she still remained asleep. Squall didn't want to wake Rinoa up from her serene nap, so he made the choice to stay a little while longer than he intended so that she could rest.

Pushing strands of her jet black hair out of her angelic face, Squall cursed at himself silently for possibly tiring her out too much. He knew that she was already worn out from lack of sleep at night (as she had told him on a phone call late one night) and also from being troubled by family dilemmas.

Sighing, he drew her closer to him and lightly rested his chin on the top of her head.

_Rinoa…I _do _love you…_

And there the two of them were, sitting on the lush white sand, not knowing what was in store for them in the future. But for now, the two of them didn't care about that. They had each other and that was really all that mattered to them.

* * *

"Did you _see_ how _short _Alexa's skirt was? I know! I didn't think that our school skirt could get _any_ shorter than the lengths all the girls in our group has!" Mandy was striding around Caraway Manor's foyer in her hot pink, loose fitting track pants, a skin tight white tank top that seemed to highlight her chest area and a matching hot pink jacket with a hoodie. She had gotten home quite late, because she had spent most of the afternoon at a sick friend's house. When she had gotten home, she had expected a brutal lecture from her mother about coming home late and not calling to tell her that she would be home late, but fortunately her mother wasn't even home yet.

"No way! Are you serious? Deidre and Vince are dating!" Mandy squealed into her candy pink mobile phone. Hearing the front door bell ring, Mandy sulked into the phone and walked over to the front door. Sighing as she opened the door, she expected it to be either her stepfather or her mother. Her hazel eyes widened as she was met with cold, cerulean eyes.

"I'm going to have to let you go now. Love you!" said Mandy quickly into her phone. Hanging up, Mandy smiled seductively at Squall, but the smile almost immediately disappeared as she caught sight of her resting raven haired stepsister in Squall's arms.

_Why that little sneak…_

Not wanting to sound anything like an evil stepsister, Mandy quickly put on her 'guy' voice (a voice she used to sweet talk only when guys were around) and faked a shocked look onto her face.

"What did _you do_ to my stepsister!" Mandy silently praised herself for sounding so convincing. It was just too bad that Squall didn't buy it.

"Rinoa's _resting _Mandy…"

Mandy smiled her sweetest smile and said, "Oh…of course…silly me, sorry for sounding like I was…going to accuse you of doing something to her. I _really _do worry about her…more than anyone thinks anyway…" sighed Mandy, leaning over to tuck some strands of her stepsister's raven black hair out of her face. Squall wanted to step back so that Mandy wouldn't be able to do anything to harm Rinoa or even touch her…but if he had, he could've plunged down the cold, hard steps of Caraway Manor.

Squall knew that she was faking the whole 'loving, caring and sweet' stepsister act. He knew that underneath all the sweetness and fake syrupy smiles, she still loathed Rinoa and would do anything to break the two up so that she could be with him again. Squall didn't know what had influenced Mandy or rather, _driven_ her to become the girl she was now, but he knew that he had to keep an extra eye on Mandy, to make sure that Rinoa didn't get harmed by Mandy or worse, find out the whole truth behind the agonizing flashbacks that she'd been having for some time now.

After moments of silence, Squall said in a bored tone, "Can I come in?"

Mandy snapped out of her own world, quickly nodded a yes and opened the door wider, so that Squall could enter Caraway Manor with Rinoa still snoozing in his arms.

_Is it just me, or does Rinoa always seem to sleep these days? _Mused Mandy as she smiled dazzlingly at Squall who just stared coldly back at her.

"After you put…her down, do you wanna come to my room so we can have a chat for old time's sake?" asked Mandy keenly, peering up at Squall with her light hazel eyes.

Squall just stared at his honey blonde haired ex-girlfriend coldly, before turning around smoothly so that Rinoa didn't awaken and marched up the stairs to find somewhere to place his sleeping girlfriend down. Having a 'chat for old time's sake' with Mandy was the last thing that he wanted to do.

Although he had not been in Caraway Manor for what seemed like an era, he still knew the whole place pretty well. Squall didn't know what Mandy was playing at, but he thought that she'd have moved on by now, like how he had managed to move on. But…Mandy had made it quite understandable that she wasn't over him and would do anything to get him back; even if that meant that her stepsister's happiness was the sacrifice.

Finding Rinoa's room through all the other rooms in the hallway, Squall tried his best to kick her door open as quietly as he could. A gentle breeze was blowing through Rinoa's open window and her thin azure material curtains blew along gently with the cool night breeze as well.

If Squall had wanted to switch the lights on, he couldn't have anyway, because with Rinoa in his arms, he couldn't move his arms at all. But with the moonlight shining through Rinoa's windows, it was good enough for Squall to see where he was going.

Squall saw Rinoa's canopy 'princess' bed and walked over to it. His cerulean blue eyes were focused on where her bed was and not on her tiled floors, so when he accidentally kicked what felt like a basket, he simply shrugged it off.

After taking a couple more steps, Squall made it to Rinoa's bed. Pulling the blanket up (so that Rinoa could be warm whilst sleeping) with one hand, he knelt down onto her unruffled bed and tried as gently as he could to place her down without waking her up. Once Rinoa was resting peacefully in her own, soon to be warm bed, Squall placed the thick blanket over her.

He took a seat on Rinoa's bed and watched his girlfriend sleep, like how a mother watched over her baby at night to make sure that no harm would come to it. Squall stroked her slightly damp raven black hair. She truly was an angel and always had this kind of 'effect' on people; she could easily touch anyone's hearts but the one most affected by it was Squall.

_I love you Rinoa…I'm sorry that I never actually got to really say it to you…_

Squall's electric blue eyes then averted over to Rinoa's nightstand, where several framed photographs were placed in order. _Mummy and Angelo? If Rinoa is mummy…then I probably must be daddy…_

Placing a quick, tender kiss on Rinoa's forehead, Squall took one last look at his resting girlfriend and made his way over to Rinoa's open window and leaped out of it and into the dark, night sky.

_I want to tell you…I really want to…_

Watching Squall depart from Caraway Manor through her own bedroom window, Mandy shoved her thin material like curtains back to their original state exceptthat itwas much more out of place.

_As much as I hate to play the role of the jealous ex-girlfriend, I can't stand watching him love someone else when I still have strong feelings for him! The worse thing about loving you Squall…is watching you love someone else, namely my own stepsister. _

_I know that I'm not Rinoa…but I know that what we had together was real and pure. But you'removed onnow; you've won the girl…again. Just like when we were kids, I end up losing you…to her. _

Mandy seated herself down onto her windowsill and leaned her head against the window. Her light hazel eyes watering as she remembered all the times she had lost something to someone else. Although Rinoa didn't remember due to the horrific accident that she was involved in when she was 13, Mandy was actually a distant friend from her childhood.

Blinded by her jealousy and competitiveness, Mandy slowly began to lose herself to her darker side, the one that wanted to be the best of all the rest and would do anything to achieve that regardless of what she had to do or the people that she had to hurt in order to attain that. She wanted to be admired, envied, praised, adored, loved, respected, but on top of all of that, she wanted to be loved by one boy. Squall Loire. He had been an unreachable kid growing up, but even Mandy knew that he eventually grew to have a soft spot for Rinoa.

_I lost…to her. My whole life, I ended up losing to _her_. But this time will be different. I'll become the better known daughter of Richard Caraway _and _Squall's girlfriend. _

Blinking back her tears, Mandy mustered a sinister smile. _No matter what, I will break the two of them up. I don't care what the consequences are; Rinoa will suffer all the pain and agony that she didn't even know she put me into. _

Mandy's light hazel eyes averted to the shining white moon. _Squall…you and I are meant to be…We're the ones that truly belong together. _


End file.
